


The Disappearance of Robby Keene

by GenKay



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Abuse, Bittersweet Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Gen, Heavy Angst, Kidnapping, Missing Persons, Mystery, Mystery Character(s), Mystery Narrator - Freeform, Non-Chronological, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Physical Abuse, Plot Twists, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Secrets, Suspense, Torture
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-13 15:49:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29653653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenKay/pseuds/GenKay
Summary: Robby Keene had disappeared off the face of the earth. Vanished without a trace. Run away. Except, there was a lot more to the story than most people knew… and a lot more than what they were willing to tell.Canon Compliant till season 2 finale. Season 3 AU.
Relationships: Miguel Diaz/Samantha LaRusso
Comments: 34
Kudos: 66





	1. Prologue

_ Dad…. where are you? Why aren’t you home yet? _

_ You know where he is. You know who he is with.  _

_ I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…. _

_ You might’ve killed Miguel - you think sorry is gonna cut it this time. You fucked up, Robby Keene. You fucked up big time. There will be no coming back from this. You think anyone is gonna forgive you now? That anyone will want you around? They barely cared about you before this. _

_ No… No… I’ll make this right.  _

_ How? Short of going back in time and accepting defeat, how can you possibly make this right? _

_ It wasn’t my fault. Not… completely. He attacked me and I got pissed off. The crap that he said… _

_ You mean the truth? Because that’s what it was.  _

_ No, it wasn’t. It can’t be.  _

_ Then why are you here alone? _

_ Because…. making sure Miguel’s okay is more important right now. And… _

_ And… you are not. _

Robby stopped pacing, tired of wearing out the floor and slumped on the couch. 

_ I need… help. I need advice. I need to figure out what to do next and I can’t… I can’t decide that on my own.  _

_ What to do next? You already know the answer to that. You need to turn yourself in. You are just too much of a pussy to do it. _

_ I… can’t. They’ll put me away. They’ll say I wanted to kill him and they’ll put me away for years. I’ll end up spending half my life in prison and then the rest of it would be ruined.  _

_ That’s what you deserve. You destroyed Miguel’s life… probably ended it. Why should you get off easy? _

_ Because… it was an accident. I didn’t mean to do it. No one would’ve hated Miguel if he’d done what I did.  _

_ He doesn’t have your history though. You have a past of making bad decisions, bad choices… of hurting people. You think that doesn’t count against you? You tried to change, you tried to escape your past, but these things always catch up.  _

_ I can’t go to prison. I can’t. There has to be another way. How would going to prison fix anything anyway? Wouldn’t it be better if I… figure out a way to help him somehow? _

_ How? What exactly can you do for him? No - the only way you’ll help is if you pay for what you did. If you suffer for it. That’s what he’s gonna want.  _

_ No… there has to be… I need to figure this out. I… need help. _

He pulled out his phone and checked whether it was still on. It was - and he hadn’t accidentally missed any calls either. His thumb hovered over his father’s number, trying to gather the courage to call. And when that failed, he tried the same thing with Mr. LaRusso’s number - to the same result. 

_ Why hasn’t he called me yet? Why hasn’t anyone? Even if it was just to yell at me… or check on me. I was in a fight too. I got hurt too. Does no one care at all about that? The least dad could’ve done was call. _

_ Why are you asking questions you already know the answer to? You know why no one has called to check-up on you - because no one cares about you.  _

_ No… Mom said… and Mr. LaRusso…. And Dad…. _

_ What’s the point of lying to yourself now? You’ve known this for ages.  _

_ Then what am I supposed to do? Who should I turn to? _

_ Again - you already know the answer. There is only one thing to do. _

_ Turn myself in? What good would that do? Will they suddenly start caring about me if I do the right thing? _

_ No. But you don’t have any other option.  _

_ Yes, I do.  _

Robby’s heart seemed like it stood still as he considered the possibility.

_ I don’t need this. I don’t need to live off the scraps of affection they throw my way when they feel like it. I can leave it all behind. I can walk away from it. From them.  _

_ Run away, you mean? Are you insane? _

_ Why not? I won’t be the first 16-year old to run away.  _

_ And how are you gonna live on your own? You don’t have any money.  _

_ I’ll figure something out. I always do. Once I get away from this mess, I’ll be… I’ll be… _

_ Alone?  _

_ Free. Free of this need to have them see me. To accept me. Nobody wants me around anyway - so what do I have to stick around for? The only thing I have waiting for me if I stay are a few years in a cell.  _

_ But if you do the right thing… _

_ Then what? What’ll that get me? They all hate me anyway already - me going to prison isn’t going to make them like me out of nowhere. Is it? _

_ No. But… don’t do anything rash. That’s how you got into this mess. Just… talk to someone first.  _

_ Talk to who? Nobody’s here. Nobody cares… _

_ He’ll come back. Dad will come back and then you can talk to him and figure it out. Just… wait a while. _

_ How long? _

Robby looked out the window. No one was there yet and the sun was already going down. 

_ Dad. Where are you? _


	2. Carmen

_ The tissue turned and twisted in her hands, tearing up and falling to the floor. Trying to hide her trembling, she reached out for a new one, still unable to look up. She sniffed and glanced around furtively, as if to make sure no one was listening in.  _

_ This was clearly not like her. Everything about her suggested that she was normally a lot more calm and composed. And the fact that she was a single working mother raising a kid on her own lent credence to the notion. So why was she acting so nervous? So guilty? Did she have a reason to be? _

_ “You know, I’ve always thought of myself as a good person.” Carmen said, quietly. “I’ve tried to be, atleast. I-I… I don’t like violence. I don’t like holding on to grudges. I’d much rather forgive and let things go...” _

_ The silence rode on, prompting her to continue.  _

_ “But he is my son. He’s my baby.” She said, more firmly. “After what happened… was I just supposed to be okay with that? So yes, I was angry.” _

_ “I heard about your blow-up in the hospital. At… Johnny Lawrence?” _

_ “He taught my son to get into fights. None of this would’ve happened if he hadn’t done that.” Carmen explained. “But he wasn’t the only one. I was angry at… everyone. I was angry at my mother for encouraging Miguel. I was angry at that girl - those girls - Sam and Tory - for getting him into this mess. I was angry at his friends for escalating this fight. I was angry at Daniel LaRusso for holding onto a stupid grudge from high-school. I was angry at myself for not paying attention and letting things get this far….” _

_ She took a shuddering breath. “I was even angry at Miguel - for being a stupid little boy who gets into a fight over some dumb girl.” _

_ “That’s interesting...” _

_ “What?” She looked up. “That I’m a hypocrite? That when it comes down to it, I can hold onto a grudge after all?” _

_ “No… your anger is… a human reaction. What’s interesting is that you didn’t mention the one person who actually hurt your son.” _

_ Her mouth was a thin line of defiance and her face was made of stone, betraying nothing.  _

_ “Something else that’s interesting.. You said you  _ **_were_ ** _ angry at all those people. Does that mean you’ve gotten past it?” _

_ “I have.” She said, firmly. “It was a difficult time and emotions were… not easy to deal with. But Miguel is much better now and I don’t have a reason to be angry anymore.” _

_ “Does that apply to Robby Keene as well? Or is that why you didn’t include him in your list? Because you haven’t forgiven him?” _

_ She bit her lip. “He almost killed my son.” She sighed and shook her head. “What does that have to do with anything?” _

_ “Well… don’t you think that it’s unfair? That he should escape the punishment he deserved?” _

_ “I don’t… I don’t believe in punishing people.” Carmen replied thoughtfully.  _

_ “You don’t think people should pay for their crimes?” _

_ “I’m not naive, alright?” She explained. “I know there are bad people in the world. But most people don’t do bad things because they want to… they just make mistakes. And having to live with that… that punishment is worse than going to prison.” _

_ “Is that what you believe or simply what you want to believe?” _

_ “I… don’t know.” She looked like she was about to cry. “And I don’t want to know. I don’t want to face this question and… if that makes me a coward...” _

_ She looked up, determination clear in her face. “I’m glad that Robby is gone.” She said, firmly. “I’m glad that he took that choice away from us. I’m glad that he is out of our lives and I’m glad we don’t have to struggle with the question of how to deal with him. If that makes me a horrible person then… so be it.” _

_ A finger tapped the notebook, pondering the next question. This did not fit - not completely. There was more to the story.  _

_ “Does Miguel feel the same way?” _

_ “Miguel...” There was a soft smile on her lips now. “My son is a better person than me. He’s sweet and good and… forgiving.” _

_ “He doesn’t want to see Robby punished for what he did?” _

_ “He used to.” Carmen said, confidently. “But you get that, right? He was hurt - he had every right to be angry. But he got over it and he learned to forgive.” _

_ “He sounds like a sweet kid. You must be really proud of him.” _

_ “Yes.” She said, with a smile that did not reach her eyes. “I am.” _

* * *

Carmen didn’t know this man at her door. She was usually pretty good with faces - so she knew she’d never seen him before. And she couldn’t think of a reason for this stranger to be here. 

He had the stern face and stiff figure of a military man - but with that shabby green jacket and those jeans, it seemed unlikely that he was from law enforcement. He wasn’t anyone from the hospital either, because by now she knew everyone working there. This wasn’t the knock she feared. So…

“Can I help you?” Carmen asked, nervously making sure that the chain-lock was in place.

“Mrs. Diaz?” The old guy asked. 

“Ms. Diaz.” She corrected. “But Carmen is fine. And you are?”

“My name is John Kreese. I… wanted to check in. See how Miguel was doing.”

Kreese? She felt like she’d heard the name before. From Miguel, most likely. She loved her son, but the boy babbled about everything during dinner and she’d kind of learned to tune him out after a hard day at work. Though he might’ve mentioned a Kreese a couple of times - but this guy didn’t look like a friend. 

“Are you… one of his teachers?” Carmen asked, frowning. 

“I am - yes.” Kreese smiled. “I’ve been meaning to check in on him for a while… after what happened. But I thought your family was going through a lot and didn’t want to intrude. Figured you had too many people crowding you already.”

Carmen sighed in relief and opened the door the rest of the way. “Please, come in.”

There had been a flood of well-wishers at first - all of them desperate to show their condolences and offer their pointless help. Almost too many for Carmen to handle. She had her injured son to take care of - she didn’t need to waste any time making these strangers feel better about themselves for their empty gestures. 

But by week two, that flood had become a trickle and then almost died out. And by now, Carmen was ready for a little bit of distraction.

“Thank you.” Kreese said, taking the glass of water she’d offered him. “How is Miguel doing?”

“Better.” Carmen said, nodding. “He can’t walk yet, but he is awake and sitting up. They are saying he can come home soon. But, I’ll have to...”

She looked around the house for the hundredth time, wondering how she was going to do this. The house wasn’t ready for Miguel yet - he’d be stuck on the bed and wheelchair for a while and they’d have to make the place as accessible and comfortable for him as possible. She’d done all the research about what was required - handrails for the bathroom, special seats, alterations here and there - but she had no clue where to start.

“If you need help with anything...” Kreese started. 

“That’s kind of you to offer, but I have it handled.” Carmen lied. 

“I mean it.” Kreese insisted. “Anything you need help with. Miguel is still one of my favorite students - smart, hardworking, committed. I’d love to help him get back on his feet as soon as possible.”

Carmen bit her lip, blushing at the compliment to her son. “That’s nice of you to say, but...”  _ Oh, what the hell.  _ “Thing is, I’ll need to make changes to the house for Miguel, but… I’m not good at fixing stuff up. I’ll have to hire someone for the work, but we are stretched thin as it is.”

“Please - don’t worry about it.” Kreese said eagerly. “I’ll take care of all of it. We’ll have the whole place fixed up in no time at all.”

No - that was a little too generous. And Carmen knew when something seemed too good to be true.

“I couldn’t possibly ask you to do all that.” She demurred. 

“You’ll be doing me a favor.” Kreese replied, smiling. “My students need to learn some humility and value of hard work. This will help teach them.”

She frowned at him. The lesson seemed sensible enough, but… his students?

“I’m sorry. I’ve never actually met one of Miguel’s teachers before.” She smiled. “Which subject do you teach again?”

Kreese smiled back knowingly as he saw through her question. “Well, I like to think I teach them about the subject of life. But, if you want to be technical, I taught Miguel karate.” He told her. “I took over running Cobra Kai from Johnny.”

Her face froze in place and her smile disappeared slowly. 

“I guess you’ve heard of me then?” Kreese said, eyeing her carefully. 

“Not really.” Carmen replied. “Miguel might’ve mentioned you a couple of times… but that doesn’t matter. My son is done with Cobra Kai and karate. We’ll be fine without your help.”

Kreese pressed his lips together and nodded slowly.

“Was that his choice or yours?”

Carmen narrowed her eyes. “He’s a kid. My kid. He doesn’t get a choice when it comes to what’s best for him.”

“I understand your need to protect him, but...” He kept nodding understandingly. “Do you really think it’s best for Miguel to be cut off from friends he cares about? And friends who care about him?”

_ So that’s why he is here? _

“His  _ friends... _ ” Carmen said, stiffly. “They keep talking to him about revenge and payback and fighting again… as if it hasn’t cost him enough already. Miguel is better off without friends like those.”

Kreese sighed regretfully. “Yes - that is something I’ve been trying to correct. Johnny… he… made some bad mistakes when it came to teaching these kids and I’m trying to change that. But I might have my work cut out for me.”

“So you want to save these kids?” Carmen said, her voice as cold as ice. “Fix past mistakes? Teach them better? I’ve heard that before.”

“I’m sure you have and...” Kreese took a breath. “And, I don’t pretend to be blameless in all this. Johnny used to be my student and I feel like his failures are on me as well.”

Carmen regarded him suspiciously, uncertain of how much to trust him. 

“Can I… tell you something about my history?” Kreese asked. And Carmen nodded. “I used to be in the army. I’ve seen more than enough bloodshed in my life. Karate for me was never about just fighting… it was more about developing confidence and discipline and self-control. If there is one thing that war taught me it was that it wasn’t enough to know  _ how  _ to fight, you also had to know  _ when  _ to fight. Johnny...”

Kreese sighed regretfully before continuing. 

“Johnny never learned that lesson. Ever since he was a kid, he was a hothead. Power was all he sought and… well, he was a good kid inside but he was always too impulsive and angry. He never learned to control his emotions. You must have seen that too, right?”

Carmen bit her lip and nodded. Yes, she knew Johnny better now and yes, she could see that he had a good heart under that rough exterior… but she couldn’t deny that the man had plenty of flaws. 

“I’m afraid he passed those qualities down to the kids. Including Miguel.” Kreese went on. “That’s why I had to take over Cobra Kai - to make sure his way of teaching didn’t lead these kids down the same path as him.”

Carmen considered the words carefully. She couldn’t find anything wrong with what he was saying. Those words rang of truth. And yet, something inside her kept telling her that this man could not be trusted. 

“I’m sorry.” Carmen shook her head. “You seem like a good man and I’m sure you are trying to do the right thing, but I can’t let Miguel get caught up in that mess again. I won’t let him join Cobra-Kai or practice karate again.”

Kreese gave her a sad smile. “I never asked you for that.”

She was taken aback at that. She’d been so certain that he was trying to sell her the same thing Johnny had last year. 

“Ms. Diaz - Carmen - I’m trying to teach my students that being there for your friends is more important than getting revenge.” He explained. “That’s not easy if you don’t let them be there for him.”

She pursed her lips, unable to deny that. 

“And… Miguel needs them too.” He continued. “Trust me - I’ve been down on my luck and alone and I know how hard it is to pull yourself out of that hole without someone there to give you a helping hand. Cutting Miguel off from the world - that’s not going to help him recover any faster.”

She could not deny that either. Miguel didn’t have it in him to fight her on this, but she could see everyday how much he missed having people around. She’d told herself that it was for the best in the long run but…

“So what are you asking of me here?” She asked Kreese. 

“Not much.” Kreese replied. “Let him see his friends… and let Cobra Kai help you with whatever you need. Like the… uh… handicapped stuff you need to be done around the house - my students can take care of that in one day. And they’d love to do that for Miguel.”

She hesitated. There had to be more to this, right? Some catch she wasn’t seeing?

“I won’t make any empty promises about how Cobra Kai has changed or how I won’t let Miguel down.” Kreese added. “I’ll let you judge that for yourself. Keep an eye on things as much as you like and you can change your mind only when you are convinced. Until then...”

Carmen sighed, defeated. This was a fair offer. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it that she could see. And her instincts had been so off recently anyway, so how could she trust them?

“Alright.” She nodded. “But just the kids. I’m not letting Johnny come anywhere near us again.”


	3. Daniel

_ “I wasn’t here.” Daniel LaRusso said, calmly. “I can show you the plane tickets if you like.” _

_ “That won’t be necessary, Mr. LaRusso. I just need some information about what happened.” _

_ “I can’t tell you that either.” Daniel leaned back in his comfortable office chair. “After the school incident, I was no longer involved in any of it.” _

_ Deflecting much? _

_ “Every little bit helps in painting the picture of how this all played out. So… can you tell me a little about Robby? How was your relationship with him?” _

_ He took a moment to gather his thoughts and formulate an answer. _

_ “Robby was… a good kid.” Daniel sighed. “He had a troubled home life - dad not around and mom always out. He had his issues, but he always wanted to be a decent person.” _

_ “And how do you know that?” _

_ “Because of how hard-working he was.” Daniel smiled at the memory. “When he first started working for me… and learning karate… I could see it right away. The kid was smart, sure, but when he committed to something… He just needed to be shown the right thing to commit to and I thought I could do that for him.” _

_ “That was… generous of you?” _

_ “I wasn’t being generous.” Daniel shook his head. “I needed that too. I’d been losing my way and training him helped me find it.” _

_ “So what went wrong?” _

_ “Nothing.” Daniel replied, sighing. “His issues simply went too deep for me to fix in just a few months. I tried, but...” _

_ “I see. So him being your biggest rival’s son… that didn’t affect anything at all?” _

_ “No - it didn’t.” Daniel was firm on that. “Johnny was never really a dad to Robby and while I wanted him to let his anger towards his dad go, whether he did or not had no impact on what or how I taught him.” _

_ “So the fact that he’s Johnny’s son had nothing to do with you giving up on him?” _

_ Got him! That calm mask was gone now… _

_ “I didn’t….” Daniel stammered. “I didn’t give up on Robby.” _

_ “You didn’t try to find him. Isn’t that giving up on him?” _

_ LaRusso was breathing hard… “That wasn’t… my responsibility. That’s Johnny’s job and… look, I’m his teacher, not his dad, okay? If he’d come for my help, I’d have been there for him.” _

_ “But… you weren’t there. You were gone, remember?” _

_ Daniel looked away. _

_ Could that be it? The source of this guy’s guilt? His student had needed him and he hadn’t even tried to reach out. Instead, he selfishly focused on himself and his own family.  _ _ Which was… nothing to feel guilty about. That’s what normal people did - make choices that benefited themselves and their children.  _

_ “Let’s talk about something else. You said Robby was smart, right? I’m afraid his school reports say otherwise.” _

_ “There is more than one kind of smart.” Daniel smiled. “And Robby was never really interested in studying. But when he dedicated himself to something… no matter how boring or tedious it was… I’m telling you, he would’ve done great at school if not for...” _

_ “The riot. Yes.” _

_ “He always went above and beyond what was expected of him.” Daniel said, fondly. “You know - I just told him a couple of things about Mr. Miyagi and he started reading books about the military and WWII to learn more. He didn’t even tell me that he was doing that...” _

_ Mr. Miyagi? _

_ “Who is Mr. Miyagi? Could he have had anything to do with…?” _

_ “No - he… uh… passed away a while ago.” Daniel said, sadly. “He was my karate sensei and...” He left the rest unsaid. _

_ “Okay...” _

_ It wasn’t right… the way LaRusso talked about Robby… _

_ “This is what I don’t understand, Mr. LaRusso. You sound like you really cared for the kid. Didn’t you?” _

_ Daniel nodded. _

_ “Then how could you just abandon him like that?” _

_ Daniel was left speechless for a moment.  _

_ “I… tried to help him before. But I failed.” He explained. “Things wouldn’t have ended up so bad if I hadn’t interfered in the first place. I made the right choice - I did want to help Robby, but I couldn’t. And getting out of the way was better than making things worse.” _

_ A moment to let that sink in… _

_ “Given everything that happened, do you still think you made the right choice?” _

_ Daniel had no answer. _

* * *

“You’re insane.” Daniel’s voice was filled with cold derision. 

Johnny looked at him - desperate and hungover. Daniel could barely believe that the guy had the nerve to come to his house, let alone demand something like this. 

“C’mon, LaRusso.” Johnny pleaded. “You know Kreese is bad news. You know we have to deal with him somehow.”

“We?” Daniel scoffed. “Not one week ago, you were sitting across the table from me and telling me Kreese was gone for good. And now you want me to go to war with him? After what happened already?”

“I made a mistake.” Johnny said, thickly. 

“Yeah… add it to the list.” Daniel replied, disgusted. 

Johnny swallowed, looking defeated and stared at everything in the room except for his rival. 

“I wasn’t the only one who screwed up.” He said, quietly. “Miyagi-Do is supposed to be the better way, right? You call what Robby did the better way?”

“Don’t you dare put that on me.” Daniel snarled. “I did what I could for that kid, but that anger in him? That came from you. From how you treated him all his life.”

It looked like Johnny was about to say something, but thought better of it. 

“Look - I didn’t come here to fight, okay?” He said instead. “I’m here because I need your help. I can’t fight Kreese alone.”

Daniel was tempted. After all, this was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it?

No - not teaming up with Johnny, but showing everyone how corrupt and damaging Cobra Kai truly was. With the guy who’d brought it back by his side, saying the same thing, no one would be able to deny it. Right?

But the price was too high. His daughter… his student… that poor kid lying there in the hospital… Was this really worth all that pain and suffering? And how much more was there to come if he started this fight all over again?

“Fighting is not the answer Johnny.” Daniel said, sadly. “Haven’t we proven that already, with what happened? We can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over again. I’m… done fighting.”

“You think you’re gonna have a choice?” Johnny looked up at him. “You know how Kreese is. He’s not the type to let things go.”

Daniel swallowed and shook his head. “There are better ways to deal with it. If he tries to come after us, then I’m just gonna call the cops. And the other parents will do the same thing.”

“So why didn’t you do that before?” Johnny asked. “When Hawk trashed your dojo - you could’ve called the cops on us. He practically signed his name there.”

“Maybe I should have.” Daniel took a deep breath. “But… I didn’t want to get those kids in trouble. I thought… they were just being taught the wrong way and I didn’t think they should be punished for it.”

“Well - that’s what’s happening now. Don’t you see?” Johnny argued. “Kreese is gonna fill their head with his bullshit and it’ll mess up their lives just like it did mine.”

“Yeah - I see that.” Daniel replied. “It’s just not my problem anymore.”

Johnny stayed quiet for about a minute, trying to think of something to say. 

“So… what are you gonna do instead?” He asked. 

“I don’t know… maybe get out of town for a bit.” Daniel replied. “None of us is having an easy time with this - so I figured we could take a break. Go to Okinawa. Sam might like that.”

Johnny looked up, curious.

“She hasn’t been having an easy time at school.” Daniel explained. “The other kids… they kind of blame her for the whole thing.”

“That’s because while others got expelled and suspended, your daughter didn’t even get detention.” Johnny replied. 

“She wasn’t punished because she didn’t do anything wrong.” Daniel said, coldly. “That crazy student of yours attacked her and Sam simply defended herself.”

Once again, Johnny thought better of going down that particular rabbit hole. 

“Never thought I’d see the day Daniel LaRusso run from a fight.” 

Daniel gave him a hollow laugh. “Why the hell not?” He asked. “What exactly am I supposed to be fighting for?”

“To help my students.” Johnny replied, tonelessly. 

“Yeah -  _ your  _ students.” Daniel said. “Which makes it your problem.”

Johnny nodded, but he wasn’t defeated yet. 

“Can’t you do  _ something -  _ even if it’s in secret?” He suggested. “What about that asshole Zakarian? You got him to double my rent - so you clearly have some pull there. Or maybe something with the tournament committee?”

Daniel shook his head. “That’s how it starts… small things that end up escalating out of control. I’m not going down that road.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, tired of this conversation. 

“Besides, Johnny, isn’t there something more important you should be focused on? Someone else who needs you more?”

Johnny pursed his lips. 

“There is nothing I can do for Miguel right now.” He replied, shaking his head. “Carmen won’t let me see him. She blames me for what happened and… she’s right. I know he’s awake and he’s gonna make it, but that’s all.”

“That’s… good to hear.” Daniel said, with an edge to his tone. “But I was talking about Robby. Do you know where he is yet?”

Johnny looked away, unable to face the judgment in his eyes. 

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” He said, regretfully. “You’ve known more about his whereabouts this past year than I did his whole life.”

“He didn’t come to me, if that’s what you are asking.” Daniel told him.

“Would you even tell me if he did?” Johnny said, bitterly. “Wouldn’t you just hide him in your basement instead, until all this blows over?”

“This isn’t just going to blow over, Johnny. We both know that.” Daniel sighed. “If Robby comes to me, I’ll tell him that he can’t run away from his responsibilities. I’ll help him however I can, but he has to turn himself in first. And he knows that too. I’m guessing that’s why...”

Johnny nodded with him. As raw a deal Robby might get here, it was better than being on the run for the rest of your life. 

“Did the cops find anything?” Daniel asked. 

Johnny nodded slowly. 

“They pinged his cell.” He told Daniel. “They found his last known location. Reseda - the night of the fight.”

Daniel blinked, surprised. “He came back to you?”

“He came back to the house - when I wasn’t there.” Johnny gave a bitter laugh. “And he cleaned me out.”

“Johnny...”

“He used his key - so there was no forced entry.” Johnny went on. “But the whole place was trashed. He took all the cash I had at my place and anything valuable he could carry. The cops told me that he sent a text afterwards - ‘We’re even. Don’t come looking for me.’”

Daniel grimaced at the information.

“Johnny, he’s just a kid.” He said, sympathetically. “He’s scared out of his mind and he’s not thinking straight. But he’s still a good kid inside. Once he realizes his mistake...”

“I know.” Johnny nodded, morosely. “I don’t blame him for this, okay? I know he is freaked out right now but...” He left the rest unsaid. 

“Can’t the cops do anything?” Daniel asked, with a hint of desperation.

“They said they were still looking, but…”

Daniel understood the words Johnny left unuttered. A runaway delinquent, with enough money to disappear and enough street-smarts to do so effectively… Robby wasn’t going to be easy to find unless he wanted to be found. And they weren’t going to expend much energy looking for him. 

“Maybe we could try something else.” Daniel suggested. “Hire a PI or...”

“To hunt him down and drag him back home?” Johnny scoffed. “You think that’s gonna work out?”

Daniel pursed his lips and shook his head. Robby could be a really stubborn kid and forcing him to do anything would simply backfire.

“He’ll come back when he’s ready.” Johnny said, his voice a mixture of confidence and uncertainty. “I’ll tell him that I don’t blame him for anything and I’m gonna take care of him - but he has to come back first. That has to be his choice.”


	4. Sam

_ The girl was undoubtedly beautiful. Sparkling blue eyes, a heart-shaped face, brunette curls falling over her shoulders and lips made for kissing - it was easy to see why boys kept losing their minds over her. But there was more to her than that. Her face was tinged with sadness, that gave her a haunting, sombre look, which only served to accentuate her beauty.  _

_ “A lot of people seem to blame you for everything that happened.” _

_ “Yeah.” Sam shrugged. “I’m one of them.” _

_ “Hmm… let’s see - you dated one guy, broke up with him, dated another and then got drunk at a party and kissed your ex...” _

_ “What’s this? An inquisition?” Sam asked.  _

_ “Actually, none of that sounds that bad… it’s typical teenage drama. Hell, I’ve seen plenty of grown-ups do a lot worse.” _

_ “So everyone keeps telling me.” She scoffed. “If you just want to tell me that I shouldn’t blame myself...” _

_ “No - that’s none of my business. What I’m more interested in is how it makes you act. What it makes you do.” _

_ Sam sat up straighter, a little tenser now. She wrapped her hands around her middle - an instinctive gesture to guard your vulnerability. Everyone was hiding something, but the question was, whether they were all hiding the same secret or they had others of their own.  _

_ “Can you tell me when you last saw Robby Keene?” _

_ “The day of the school fight.” Sam replied flatly.  _

_ That seemed consistent with the existing information. However… _

_ “You were his girlfriend. And you feel guilty about cheating on him. If there was anyone he’d feel safe to get in touch with...” _

_ “Well, he didn’t get in touch with me.” Sam replied.  _

_ “Would you tell me if he had?” _

_ She stared at him blankly. “No.” _

_ “I see.” Sigh. “The thing is, Sam - I can call you Sam, right? - The thing is, secrets can be damaging. They always come out and they always hurt people. So if there is anything that you are not telling me...” _

_ “I already told you - Robby didn’t get in touch with me.” Sam said, looking away.  _

_ The girl was not a good liar. Everything about her was a little too open and honest. She’d looked right at him the first time and then looked away the second time - even though she’d said the same thing.  _

_ So she was lying, but not about Robby getting in touch. _

_ “Do you know what happened to him?” _

_ “No.” The truth again.  _

_ Maybe this was the wrong tree to bark up.  _

_ “You think it’s possible that Robby tried to contact you but couldn’t?” _

_ A pointless question, but her response to it might reveal something.  _

_ “No.” Sam said. “He’d never do that.” _

_ Interesting… those words carried a conviction they hadn’t had before.  _

_ “Robby was a good person.” Sam explained, seeing the look on his face. “He tried to put others before himself. The people he cared about. Even when we were together, he didn’t… he never pushed me into anything. He was always trying to do what made me happy - even if he didn’t like it. He was the same with my dad and his mom and...” _

_ “And…?” _

_ “And he’d never put me in a difficult position like that.” Sam finished. “He’d never ask me to lie to my parents to help him out.” _

_ “Interesting you should say that - didn’t the two of you choose to keep your relationship a secret from your parents?” _

_ “That was my choice. He wanted to tell, but I wasn’t ready.” _

_ “And what about what he did to Miguel? Did he do that for you too?” _

_ There was a flash of anger in those blue eyes. “You know nothing about what really happened that day.” _

_ “So tell me.” _

_ She took a deep breath. “Robby was trying to protect me from Tory. Yes, he lost his temper somewhere along the way, but he got into it to save me. And he did that even after finding out what I did. If he hadn’t done that… if he’d just picked himself over me that one time none of this would’ve happened.” _

_ “So you don’t think he bears any responsibility at all?” _

_ She considered the question carefully.  _

_ “He doesn’t bear ALL of it.” She replied, cautious of a trap. “That’s what everyone keeps trying to do - put the blame on him and say that he deserved everything that happened. But that’s bullshit. The rest of us screwed up too.” _

_ “Including Miguel?” _

_ “Yes - including Miguel. He paid a lot more than he should’ve but that doesn’t change the fact that he was at fault too.” _

_ “Does he… know you feel this way?” _

_ “He does.” Sam gave a half-smile. _

_ “And how does that affect your relationship? You are dating him again, right?” _

_ “That’s none of your business.” Sam snapped.  _

_ Maybe a step too far, but there was some good information here.  _

_ “If you don’t mind me saying - you sound like you still love Robby.” _

_ “I do love him.” Sam replied, fake-casually. “I’m not  _ **_in_ ** _ love with him, but I do love him.” _

_ Well, that should make for some interesting bedtime conversations… but that wasn’t relevant to the story of Robby Keene. This conversation had been illuminating regarding the boy’s character, but not much else.  _

_ “One last thing… just for my satisfaction. You said, a lot of people bear the responsibility for what happened, correct?” _

_ Sam nodded.  _

_ “Does that mean you think they should pay for it?” _

_ “I do.” Sam replied.  _

_ “Well… given everything else that has happened, do you think there is anyone who got away without getting what they deserved?” _

_ There was that smile again - the haunted smile tinged with sadness.  _

_ “Just me.” _

* * *

The tapping on the window pulled her out of her reverie. Surprised at seeing the person on the other side, Sam rolled down her window.

“Sam, right?” Carmen said, leaning down. “You’ve been sitting out here for a while. You want to come out and help me take these groceries in?”

Sam looked away, flustered. It wasn’t like she was hiding or spying or stalking them… she just hadn’t expected anyone to care that she was there. 

“Miss Diaz…I, uh...” She stammered. “I was just passing through.”

Carmen gave her a sad smile. “Yes, I’ve seen you ‘passing through’ more than a couple of times. At the hospital at first. And then here in the street since Miguel moved back.”

Busted. And she thought she was being subtle. 

“Why don’t you come inside?” Carmen asked, encouragingly. “I’m sure Miguel would love to see you.”

She’d tried that. She’d wanted to see him for so long and almost done it so many times before - but she’d never had the courage. 

“I’m… not sure he would.” Sam said, looking at her lap. “Not after...”

Carmen regarded her sympathetically. 

“He doesn’t blame you, you know?” She said in a kind voice. “Not for the kiss and not for what happened later...”

_ Maybe he should.  _

“I know talking to you will make him feel better.” Carmen played her trump card. “And he needs people around him right now.”

Sam took a deep breath and nodded. Sometimes, you couldn’t get the courage to do what you needed to on your own. Sometimes, what you needed was a kind word and a helping hand - and most times, that was enough. 

She got out of the car and took the bag of groceries from Carmen’s hands. 

* * *

“So if the chirality of the compound is….” Sam looked up and saw Miguel staring off in a distance. With a huff, she snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Miguel! Focus. We got a lot more chemistry to go through.”

Miguel sighed and came back to earth. “Sorry, my head’s somewhere else today.”

Sam nodded. 

This had become a regular thing once she’d gotten Carmen’s approval to come over anytime she liked. Miguel needed to keep himself engaged and moving forward - that’s what his doctor had said. He needed to live his life as normally as possible. He’d recover, but recovery would be slower if he lapsed into depression. 

So Sam came over every few days with a lot of schoolwork. It was understandable that his grades would fall behind a little - but if he could rejoin school with his peers next semester…

But days like this one were still inevitable.

“Are you worried about starting physical therapy?” Sam asked. “I mean, the walking part?”

Miguel shook his head. “I can’t wait to get started. It’s just… something Sensei Kreese said. That it’s one thing to lose a fight, but you should not lose to fear.”

Sam pursed her lips, uncertain of how to respond. Kreese and the other Cobras had gotten there first and convinced Miguel and his mom of their “good” intentions - which Sam had trouble buying. But commenting on who they should trust had started the whole thing and going down that road again did not seem like a wise choice. 

Besides, this advice seemed… familiar. It sounded like something Mr. Miyagi would’ve said - not something she’d have expected from the guy her father had described. 

“What are you afraid of, Miguel?” She asked. 

“Where to start?” Miguel sounded bitter. “Seems like I’m afraid of everything. Of never walking again. Of getting hurt. Of…  _ him  _ coming back.”

Sam bit her lip to keep herself from commenting. 

Things had been… quiet, if not better. There was still tension in the air, but an unspoken truce had taken effect. It was Kreese’s doing, according to Miguel. He’d told his students to refrain from going after any of the ex-Miyagi-Dos and to give them a wide berth. And while Daniel had scoffed in disbelief and said that that was simply him preparing for worse later, they’d all been relieved to get this much. 

And even talking about that stuff was a conversation filled with landmines. 

“I dreamt about him last night.” Miguel confessed, quietly. “That he came back to finish the job. Except, this time he went after everyone I cared about and I… I was helpless to do anything.”

Sam shook her head. “Robby wouldn’t do that.”

“The guy’s a psycho - you don’t know what he’ll do or when.” Miguel said. “I don’t know how you can still defend him after everything he has done.”

“You don’t know him like I do.” Sam argued. 

“I don’t need to. Just look at his actions.” Miguel replied. “He started working for your dad to spite Sensei Lawrence. He made his move on you even though you were with me. He pushed his way into your family. He kept egging you to fight Tory. He lied about the medal. And after I let him go...”

“Can we… not talk about this?” Sam pleaded. Miguel was taking those actions way out of context. “Nothing good’s gonna come out of it.”

“Why do you always do that?” Miguel asked, frustrated. “You always keep avoiding things until they get too big and messy and it blows up in our faces. You can’t keep doing that.”

Was that where she’d gone wrong? She’d always tried to avoid conflict. She hated arguing and disappointing people. But Miguel wasn’t wrong - if conflict was inevitable, it was better to have it out before it got out of hand.

“Fine - let’s do this, then.” Sam said, closing the books. “Let’s start with Kreese. You said you didn’t trust him in the beginning and Mr. Lawrence didn’t either. That’s why he was pushed out of Cobra Kai. And now - after he showed his true colors and stole the dojo - now you trust him? What the hell’s that all about.”

“It’s more complicated.” Miguel pursed his lips and looked away. “I don’t… always agree with his way of doing things, but his heart is in the right place.”

Sam scoffed, disbelievingly. 

“It is.” Miguel insisted. “He cares about all his students and only wants what’s best for them.”

“Including the guy whose dojo he stole?”

“Especially him.” Miguel said, firmly. “He explained that to me… he doesn’t want to keep Cobra Kai, he’s going to hand it over to Sensei Lawrence. But he has to fight for it first. Sensei Lawrence always gives up too easily… like how he hasn’t even tried to come and see me… he needs to learn how to fight harder. And when he does...”

“You are not really buying that?” Sam said, incredulously. “What about all the stuff he taught you about? No mercy?”

“He was right about that, wasn’t he?” Miguel replied coldly. “If I’d taken Robby out instead of showing him mercy, none of this would’ve happened.”

“No - then you’d be the jerk.”

“Better than being the cripple.” Miguel shrugged, sighing. “Look - everything you have to say about Sensei Kreese, I’ve thought it too. I know he can be a bit of an asshole - but he’s an asshole on  _ my  _ side and I guess I can use a little bit of that right now.”

“And what if he turns you into one too?” Sam asked, quietly. 

“That won’t happen.” Miguel replied. “That’s what it comes down to, right? You think I can be easily manipulated? Led down the wrong path like I don’t have a brain of my own? I’m not that weak-minded, okay.”

“It’s not that simple...” Sam shook her head. “My dad says-”

“Yeah - like he’s a good judge of character.” Miguel scoffed. “He had it out for Sensei Lawrence from day one. He had his mind made up about me without even knowing me. And he trusted Robby? That should tell you everything.”

“Well, I happen to agree with him.” Sam said, bristling. 

“Yeah - you trusted Robby too.” Miguel said, coldly. 

“And you trusted Tory.” Sam returned. 

“See? This is what I’m talking about.” Miguel got frustrated again. “You can’t judge people by just one mistake, okay? We screwed up, Sam - we hurt Tory and she lashed out. She made a mistake. But she only made one. Robby has been doing one bad thing after another. He  _ robbed  _ Sensei for fuck’s sake. And he ran like a coward instead of facing the consequences. How could you even begin to defend that?”

“Miguel - ”

“Yeah - I know. I don’t know him like you do.” He said, sarcastically. “But this is what it comes down to. Tory paid for what she did. She got expelled and she learned from that. She’s trying to do better now. But Robby...” Miguel shook his head. “My mom always says that it’s not important that you make mistakes, what matters more is how you deal with them.”

Sam nodded quietly. 

_ Robby, why did you have to run? Why couldn’t you have just stayed and come back to us? We’d have helped you. Dad would’ve helped you. _

“Are you… still in love with him?” Miguel asked, quietly. “Is that why you keep defending him?”

“I...” Sam took a deep breath. “I still care about him.”

“That wasn’t the question.”

“Well, that’s the only answer I have right now.” Sam replied. 

Miguel nodded in acceptance. 

“Do you still love me?”

“I care about you too.”

“Sam!” Miguel said, annoyed. “C’mon!”

Sam considered her response. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it. After she’d heard about Miguel and Tory’s breakup… She knew she still had feelings for Miguel, but there was also something else holding her back. 

“I don’t think I ever stopped loving you.” Sam replied. “But Miguel… sometimes it’s like you are two different people. There is the sweet, funny, adorable guy who is the nicest person I’ve ever met. And then there is this jerk who is full of anger and rage and hatred. I don’t… like that guy. And I can’t be with him.”

“So that’s your condition? You won’t date me until I agree to forgive Robby?” Miguel asked, disdainfully. “Sam - I get to be angry here, alright? I get to hate that guy after what he did to me.”

“I know.” Sam nodded. “But that’s not what I mean. There is a difference between being angry and being  _ that  _ guy. I can handle you being angry at Robby - but I won’t date someone like that, someone full of hate.”

“So there is no chance for us at all?”

“Not until you decide what kind of guy you want to be.” Sam replied, evenly. 

They stared at each-other, their conversation at an impasse. Miguel looked away first. 

“Guess you were right about this not leading anywhere.” He said, dejected. 

_ Was I? We didn’t resolve anything, but I still feel a lot lighter. _

“Maybe not?” Sam suggested. “I mean… I know we still don’t agree, but atleast now I see where you are coming from. And you do too, right? Maybe understanding each-other better is good enough for now?”

Miguel bit his lip and nodded. Things were silent at the table for the next few minutes - bordering on awkward - until Sam felt his warm hand over hers. 

“I don’t know how not to be  _ that  _ guy.” Miguel said, quietly. “But you are right - I don’t want to be. I don’t know how I’ll forgive Robby, but… maybe I’ll figure it out someday.”

Sam nodded, looking up and saw Miguel lean in closer - as close as his wheelchair would allow. She hesitated for a moment and then closed the gap, their lips meeting in the middle. She felt a hand tangled in her curls and her own came up to touch Miguel’s cheek. 

This felt… both right and wrong. She wanted this. She wanted him. But Robby’s face still kept flashing through her mind - that broken-hearted look of hurt and betrayal wouldn’t let her truly open up to Miguel. 

The sound of the door opening made them both break away at the same time. Hastily wiping her face, Sam looked up to see Tory standing at the threshold, staring them wide-eyed and with her mouth hanging open.

“I...” Sam said, flustered and awkward. “I should go.”

She snatched up her books and backpack and walked out, noticing that Tory hadn’t moved from the spot.


	5. Johnny

_ A cop. A detective. And now a private investigator. Barry Bonds’ life had taken a pretty predictable path. He’d seen and done a lot in his lifetime and he often felt as if nothing could surprise him anymore.  _

_ But this did. Never in a million years would he have expected Johnny Lawrence to walk through the door of his dingy little office.  _

_ “Hey… uh… Barry Bonds, right?” Johnny asked, a little nervously. “The PI?” _

_ “That’s what it says on the door.” Bonds replied. “What can I do for you, Mr. Lawrence?” _

_ Johnny frowned in surprise. “How do you know my name? Are you like, Sherlock Holmes or something?” _

_ “Or something.” He laughed. “I like to keep an eye out in the neighborhood and your fliers are up everywhere.” _

_ No - that wasn’t it. But Johnny accepted the answer anyway and sat down on the chair, nervously twiddling his thumbs. Experience had taught Barry to expect nervous clients and it was always best to let them speak up first.  _

_ “Guess I should start with this.” Johnny said, pulling out a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. “Uh… you did some work for my step-father I guess. Sid Weinberg - you know him, right? He... passed away a while ago.” _

_ “I know. I was at his funeral.” Barry replied. “And I know you weren’t.” _

_ “Yeah… uh… we didn’t exactly get along.” Johnny told him. “Anyway - I’m settling some stuff with his estate and there were some pending charges… so, I guess here...” He handed him the paper. “A cheque for what he owed you.”  _

_ “Thank you.” Barry said, accepting it gratefully. He’d figured he’d have to start a lawsuit for that money. “So, I guess this makes you a very rich man, right? Sid didn’t have anyone else to leave all that money to.” _

_ “Yeah, I guess.” Johnny shrugged, as if it didn’t matter one way or the other. “I never really wanted his money but it came to me anyway and if anything good can come of it...” _

_ “That’s a little surprising.” Bonds said, leaning back in his chair. “I was expecting you to reject it out of pride.” _

_ Johnny frowned again, defensively. “You don’t know anything about me.” _

_ Bonds gave him a knowing grin.  _

_ “But I do, Johnny. I know a lot.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at the irony. “Do you have any idea what you just paid me for?” _

_ Johnny frowned and shook his head.  _

_ “For spying on you.” Bonds said. “Sid had me on retainer to keep an eye on you and apprise him of what was happening - lost jobs, arrests, dojo takeovers...” _

_ “That asshole was having me followed?” Johnny asked, horrified.  _

_ Barry shrugged and watched Johnny struggle with the idea.  _

_ “I guess I should be thankful that he cared enough to know what’s going on...” He said, hopefully.  _

_ “I don’t think he did.” Barry shrugged. “Sid was a man of his word and he’d promised your mom to keep an eye out - and I think that was it. Well, that and how he seemed to enjoy hearing about your misery.” _

_ “And did you enjoy telling him?” Johnny asked with narrowed eyes.  _

_ “Not really - I didn’t care one way or the other.”Bonds shrugged. “I just enjoyed doing my job.” _

_ Johnny grunted in anger. “Well, I got another job for you, if you are interested.” _

_ “Always.” Barry said, pulling out his pen and notebook. He was old-school that way. “I assume with Sid’s money, payment will not be a problem?” _

_ “No.” Johnny said, tightly.  _

_ “Excellent.” Barry smiled. “So Mr. Lawrence - what can I do for you?” _

_ Johnny hesitated. Now that they were coming to the real topic, he was nervous again.  _

_ “Uh… since you were following me all this time, you must know about what happened, right?” He asked.  _

_ “I know some… about the school-fight. And losing your dojo.” Barry explained. “I only did my job while Sid was paying - and he stopped paying a while back...” _

_ “Oh...” Johnny sounded disappointed. “Well, I guess a lot of stuff has happened since then.” _

_ “What exactly are you looking for here, Mr. Lawrence?” Bonds asked, cutting to the heart of the matter.  _

_ “I… need answers.” He said, uncertainly. “I need to know what happened to Robby. To my son.” _

_ This man… he was just a gift that kept giving.  _

_ “I’m sure you see the irony of you asking me that.” _

_ “Yeah, whatever, dude.” Johnny said, annoyed. “Can you help me or not?” _

_ “What exactly do you need?” Barry asked.  _

_ “I don’t know yet.” Johnny sighed. “An explanation I guess. Truth about everything he went through… what drove him to...” _

_ Bonds nodded. Sounded like a pretty easy job.  _

_ “Okay - how about you tell me everything from the start.” He asked, getting his pen ready.  _

_ “Start? Don’t you know already?” _

_ “I do.” Barry replied. “But I find that there are always small details - things that people don’t consider important - that often have the answers one is looking for. So please, in your own words, start from the beginning.” _

_ “Beginning?” Johnny chuckled. “I guess that would be when I first joined Cobra Kai...” _

* * *

“Thanks for doing this, Daniel.” Johnny said, softly. 

“Of course.” Daniel nodded. “It’s not… what I’d hoped for, though.”

No, it was not, Johnny thought as he looked around. The showing was pretty pathetic actually. They hadn’t expected much - they’d only booked the place for about twenty people - and they’d still been disappointed. Daniel was there with his wife and daughter and Bobby had come and a couple of other people Johnny didn’t know from Adam - but that was it. The guest of honor was a no-show.

“I thought that atleast today...” Johnny said, despairing. “I mean… if it was me, nothing would’ve… ” His mind searched for an excuse. “Maybe he doesn’t know.”

Daniel sighed. “I posted it on every social media account I could think of.” He said. “So did Sam. I even put it up on the LaRusso auto website. I sent him emails, voicemails, texts… anything I could think of. If he’s paying any attention at all, he would know.”

Johnny nodded sadly, looking at the picture framed with a wreath.  _ She deserved better than this,  _ He thought.  _ I hated her and she hated me, but she deserved better.  _ Shannon didn’t have many people who’d loved her, but she atleast deserved to have her son mourn for her. 

Well, atleast her picture was better than the body he and Daniel had gone to identify…

“I thought she was doing better.” Bobby said. “She was in rehab, right?”

“Yeah, but with everything that happened...” Daniel shook his head. “She was getting clean for Robby and when he disappeared, she kind of lost it. I don’t know how we are gonna tell Robby about this.”

“He’s not coming back.” Johnny said. “If he didn’t come back for this then… I don’t think he’s ever coming back now.”

Despite his conviction, Johnny spent the rest of the memorial looking at the door until he was the only one left. Then he took the urn with his ex’s ashes and left for home. 

* * *

“You got some nerve showing your face here.” Johnny growled, trying to appear as intimidating as possible while swaying on his feet. 

“I’m not here to fight.” Kreese replied, holding up his hands. “I want to make things right, Johnny.”

“Yeah?” Johnny scoffed. “How about you start by giving me my dojo back?”

“That’s what I’m here to do.” Kreese told him, smiling kindly. “So can we talk about this?”

Johnny narrowed his eyes, considering the proposition.  _ What the hell. What do I have to lose any way? _

He stepped aside and let the old man into his home. Kreese looked around the apartment with a disappointed shake of his head and cleared some space on the couch to sit down. 

“You are a mess, Johnny.” He said, sighing. “You need to get your act together. I want you back running Cobra Kai, but I can’t let that happen when you are like this.”

“Are you just here to rub my face in it?” Johnny snarled. 

“I’m here to teach you.” Kreese replied. 

“I got nothing to learn from you.”

“That’s where you are wrong, Johnny.” Kreese said, deliberating each word. “I taught you karate. I taught you how to be a badass. But I never taught you how to be a Sensei - how to put your students first. You need to learn that to earn your place back in Cobra Kai.”

“Bullshit.” Johnny scoffed derisively. “You don’t get to talk about putting others first. You’ve always put yourself first, you selfish asshole.”

“I used to be like that - yeah.” Kreese admitted ruefully. “But were you any different?”

“I made mistakes, alright.” Johnny said. “But I was a hell of a lot better to kids than you ever were to me.”

“None of my students ever ended up in a wheelchair.” Kreese countered.

Johnny didn’t have a reply to that. 

“What the hell do you want, Kreese?” He asked. “What exactly are you looking for?” 

“I want you to come back to Cobra Kai - as my assistant Sensei.” Kreese explained. “And then, when you are ready, to take over teaching the students.”

Johnny couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it. “You want me to take an assistant position in my own dojo?”

“Think of it as a learning curve.” Kreese replied. “Your students don’t trust you, Johnny. And you need to earn that back.”

“Fuck you!” Johnny growled. “Fuck your curve and fuck your offer. You can shove that where the sun don’t shine.”

Kreese shook his head, disappointed and stayed silent for a while. 

“I heard about your ex.” He said, quietly. “I’m sorry that happened.”

Johnny blinked at the change of course and gave him a terse nod, unsure of how else to respond. 

“Did that… son of yours ever show up?” Kreese asked.

“No.” Johnny replied.

“I’m sure he wants to come - he’s just too afraid to show his face.” Kreese said, sympathetically. “Sometimes, we all need a little help to get that courage, right?”

Johnny narrowed his eyes and regarded his old Sensei cautiously.  _ What’s your game here? _

“If you want, I could help you try to find him...” Kreese offered. 

“What?” 

“I’ve been homeless.” He told him. “So I know a thing or two about where people go. And I’m still in touch with some of my old buddies. I might be able to help you look for him.”

_ Oh, he’s good. Really good. He figures out your weakness and hones in on it. He knows exactly what to tempt you with. _

_ Don’t fall for it. His offer is not for real - he’ll dangle finding Robby in front of your eyes for as long as he can and use it to string you along. And even if he could help, Robby is better off as far away from this guy as possible.  _

“Robby made his choice.” Johnny replied evenly. “He’ll come back when he’s ready.”

“Johnny… really...” Kreese sighed. “If the kid didn’t come back when his own mother died… What kind of person does that?”

Johnny pursed his lips. He was disappointed. He had expected better from his son than this. But this was none of Kreese’s business.

“Like I said - he made his choice about who he wants to be.” He said. “How I feel about it doesn’t matter.”

“Okay.” Kreese sighed, defeated. “If I can’t convince you, then...”

He got up, shaking his head and headed to the door. As the door opened, Johnny was almost relieved to be rid of him.

“C’mon in, Diaz.” Kreese said and stepped aside to let Miguel into the apartment.

Johnny stared at his former student. Carmen had forbidden him from coming near them, but Johnny had still seen him around the past six months and noted his improvement with growing relief. Over the course of half a year, Miguel had gone from being bed-ridden, to a wheelchair, to crutches and now to a wooden cane that he was barely leaning upon.

“Miguel? What are you…?” Johnny looked between him and Kreese and the truth dawned on him.

Kreese had gotten to him. To him and Carmen - because there was no way Carmen was going to let Miguel do anything she didn’t know about. Kreese had lied and manipulated them into thinking he was on their side and now…

“I wanted to talk to you about coming back to Cobra Kai, Sensei.” Miguel said, quietly. “Please… it won’t be the same without you.”

“Miguel, what the hell?” Johnny was still having a hard time wrapping his head around this. “You know what kind of guy he is. You were the first one to warn me about him, remember?”

The boy nodded. “I didn’t… really understand everything at the time. But Sensei Kreese explained it to me.”

_ He lied to you. He’s using you. _

“Does your mother know about this?” Johnny asked, incredulously. “She’d never agree to let you practice again.”

“She knows, Sensei. And she agreed to it.” Miguel replied. “She didn’t want to, but even my PT guy told her that karate was good for me. I kept asking and Sensei Kreese proved to her that Cobra Kai had changed. So...”

So they wore her down. 

“Cobra Kai will never change.” Johnny shook his head. “Kreese will never change. He doesn’t care about you kids.”

Miguel pursed his lips and shook his head. “We haven’t been in a single fight outside the dojo these past six months - did you know that? I mean, sure - Miyagi-Do isn’t around anymore, but the students are still there. But Hawk and others… they’ve left them alone. Because Sensei Kreese told them to. I’m not sure what you mean by him not caring about us, but Cobra Kai  _ is  _ different now.”

Johnny swallowed and stared at Kreese. There was a deeper game here - something he couldn’t see here. 

“So he’s not teaching you the same “no mercy” crap from before?” Johnny scoffed. 

“He is. And that lesson isn’t wrong.” Miguel said, firmly. “I’d say what Robby did proves that, wouldn’t you? But he’s also teaching us not to get into pointless fights.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Johnny.” Kreese told him, kindly. “Yes, you failed your students - but not by teaching them the Cobra Kai way. That was the right thing. But you also didn’t teach them something else that was important. And that’s on me because I never taught you that lesson.”

“What’s that?”

“To know when to fight.” Kreese replied. “You gotta pick your battles, Johnny. It’s not just about winning - it’s also about what it costs to win and whether it’s worth it. You can’t win every fight - so it’s better to avoid some and fight them later.”

Johnny’s heart was pounding, but he was barely listening to Kreese’s words. His whole focus was on Miguel - on his hurt student before him and how he was lapping up everything Kreese was saying. 

_ I can’t… I can’t let this happen. I already failed Robby. I can’t fail him too. I can’t let him fall for Kreese’s bullshit. I can’t let Kreese ruin his life like he ruined mine. _

“Miguel - you can’t trust this guy.” He said, choking. 

“Then… isn’t it better if you come back to Cobra Kai?” Miguel suggested. “If you think Sensei Kreese is teaching us something wrong then you can tell us. But you can’t do that if you are not there.”

_ No, it doesn’t work like that.  _

“Sensei… we’ve all made mistakes. And this could be our second chance.” Miguel said. “Things could go back to the way they were before.”

“No, they can’t.” Johnny said, despairing. 

“This is about Robby, isn’t it?” Miguel said. “But he’s gone. He doesn’t matter anymore.”

“He’s my son...” Johnny’s voice was thick.

“He was always the problem. Things always got messed up when he got involved.” Miguel said. “He went to Mr. LaRusso to spite you. He took part in the tournament to fight your students just to mess with you. He went after my girlfriend and lied to her about the medal. He… almost killed me after I showed him mercy. Things wouldn’t have gotten this bad if he’d just stayed away. And… he’s staying away now. So things can get better.”

_ No - it’s not fair to put it all on him. Too many people made too many mistakes that led to this.  _

But Miguel wasn’t willing to hear it. Kreese had gotten to him and…

And he’d used Robby to do it. Sure, Robby made a mistake, but now Kreese was using that mistake to corrupt Miguel and others into thinking like him. And Johnny couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let his son’s mistakes destroy more lives. 

Not to mention, he owed it to his students anyway. 

“Alright.” Johnny said, defeated. “I’ll come back to Cobra Kai and… we’ll figure out a way to make it work.”


	6. Tory

_ “My break’s over in ten.” The girl said, casually. “Whatever this is, make it quick.” _

_ Bonds nodded, taking a good look at his next “witness”. The girl was good-looking, there was no doubt about it, but you’d have to look at her twice to see that. And that was deliberate. _ _ She wore the Walmart vest over her civilian clothes, which were a size too large and shapeless. Her hair was messy and lusterless like it hadn’t been washed in a while. She’d tied it up in a hasty knot, but strands of it were falling over her face. She wasn’t wearing make-up and her face looked sweaty and greasy from the day’s work.  _

_ She was purposefully de-sexualizing herself. She was wearing an armor of “averageness” to hide her beauty.  _

_ “So, Ms. Nichols, I’m looking into Robby Keene and I was hoping you might tell me something about the whole thing.” Barry said, sitting down on the bench across from her.  _

_ There was a flash of fear in her eyes, just a hint of panic. Was she afraid of Robby or of what Barry might find out? _

_ “Why would you ask me?” She said, with the slightest tremor in her voice. “I was long gone before all that happened.” _

_ “Yes, I know. But you were there when Johnny Lawrence and Miguel Diaz returned to Cobra Kai. Can you tell me anything about how things were back then?” _

_ Her lips were pursed into a thin line. “What does that have to do with anything?” _

_ “Please… I don’t want to miss any details.” Bonds said. “You don’t have anything to hide, right?” _

_ “No, ofcourse not.” A barefaced lie. “Things were pretty normal. A little tense, sure, but normal. We didn’t… trust Sensei Lawrence at the time and I don’t think he was too happy with us either. But Sensei Kreese smoothed everything over.” _

_ “Was there any talk about Robby Keene in the dojo at the time?” _

_ “Not really.” She shrugged. “I mean… we all hated him. We liked to talk about how he was probably rotting in the gutter somewhere. Or maybe he’d already become a junkie and was dead from an overdose like his mother. And we liked to fantasize about what we’d do to him if he ever showed his face again. But that was just talk - didn’t mean anything.” _

_ “We? Did that include Miguel Diaz?” _

_ “Sometimes.” Tory said, cautiously. “He had a better reason than the rest of us to be pissed at him, after all.” _

_ “And what did Johnny have to say about all this?” _

_ “We didn’t talk like that in front of him.” Tory scoffed. “I mean… most of us didn’t. Hawk would bring it up every now and then to see how Sensei reacted and… well, Sensei was smart enough not to comment on it.” _

_ Barry nodded. The information lined up with what he’d learned from other students.  _

_ “So, if everything was fine, why did you quit?” _

_ Tory’s guard was up again and she weighed her response carefully.  _

_ “I was… reevaluating my life choices.” She said, slowly. “I got expelled from school and… it didn’t seem like I was gonna have much of a future. Wasting my life in karate didn’t seem like that smart of a choice. So I decided to quit and find a full-time job instead.” _

_ There was clearly more to it, especially given what happened later. _

_ “Ms. Nichols, your friends told me about the incident.” Barry said, kindly. “The one that happened a few months later.” _

_ He could see her tense up.  _

_ “That was stupid of me.” She said, looking away. “Going to a college frat party alone, getting drunk, taking my shirt off and dancing on the table… what else was I expecting, right?” _

_ So it was true. Not just some dumb rumor made up by high-school kids. That explained the way she dressed now. _

_ “Why didn’t you file a police report?” Barry asked.  _

_ “What good would that have done?” Tory scoffed. “It was my word against theirs and given my history and how I was acting that night...” _

_ “It was still assault.” Barry insisted. “And everything I’ve learned about you - it doesn’t sound like you to take it lying down.” _

_ Tory shrugged and didn’t reply.  _

_ “Did you ever… talk to anyone from Cobra Kai about it?” Bonds asked. _

_ Tory gave him a bitter smile.  _

_ “I talked to Sensei Lawrence about it once.” She said. “He always said he had our best interests at heart - so I figured he might give me some good advice on how to deal with it.” _

_ “And did he?” _

_ Tory shook her head. “He told me that I got what I deserved. That I had it coming. And that he wanted nothing to do with me anymore.” _

_ Interesting… Johnny Lawrence wasn’t exactly the type to blame the victim. And Tory was clearly a victim here.  _

_ “Do you have any idea why he’d say something like that?” _

_ “No. I don’t.” Tory replied coldly. “And now, if you don’t mind, my break’s over and I have to get back to work.” _

* * *

Miguel was getting better, Tory noted with approval as she watched him punch and kick the punching-bag in the Cobra Kai backroom. Seeing him work that thing, you’d barely believe that he was in a coma not seven months ago.

“You’re doing great.” She said, encouragingly. “You’ll be ready for the tournament in no time.”

Miguel shook his head and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“My body is still too stiff.” He said, rolling his shoulders. “And I get tired too fast. I’m not sure if I’ll be ready in time.”

“Dude, c’mon.” She smiled. “You managed to beat Mitch in sparring today.”

“But I still can’t beat you. Or Hawk. Or some of the others.” He replied. “I’m not sure I can win this time.”

Tory didn’t bother arguing that particular point. “We still have time. And it doesn’t seem like we’re gonna have much competition this year.”

Miguel smiled and nodded and Tory felt her heart speed up a little at that look. 

_ Don’t fall for it again,  _ She told herself.  _ You can’t make the same mistake twice. You know he’s still in love with that girl. She may not deserve him, but you deserve better too. You’re better off as friends.  _

“You are really motivated.” She told him. “Haven’t seen you do the fists of fury like that before.”

Miguel grinned at her. “It’s the trick Sensei Lawrence taught me - you imagine someone you hate in front of you and you put all your anger and power behind your each punch.” He hit the bag hard again to make the point. “And I got a lot of that built up.”

Those words sent a chill through Tory and she let the bag go, taking a step back. Miguel frowned at the look on her face. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked. 

“Nothing.” Tory shook her head. “It’s just… you think it’s right to be that angry at someone? That you’d… keep hurting them even if they are not fighting back?”

“It’s just a punching bag.” Miguel shrugged, confused. 

_ This  _ was, sure, but… her stomach still squirmed uncomfortably. 

“Tory, did something happen?” Miguel asked, taking a step closer. 

Tory took a deep breath, trying to sort things out in her head. 

“I had a dream last night.”  _ No, not a dream.  _ “A nightmare, really. I was here in the dojo, whaling on the punching bag - except, it was actually the dummy, hanging from the ceiling. And… I had my spikes on and I kept hitting it over and over again until my head was swimming.”

Miguel frowned and nodded to her to go on. 

“But then, I noticed that it wasn’t just plastic - it was actual meat.” She continued. “That just made me hit harder. Then I saw that it was an actual person… it was  _ him -  _ uh - I mean Robby Keene. He was just hanging there, unconscious, not fighting back and bleeding all over… and I felt this rush of excitement and I started hitting him again.”

Miguel furrowed his brows. “That doesn’t sound too bad. He deserves it after what he did.”

“I know he’s an asshole.” Tory sighed. “But if I’m willing to do that to someone, then what does that make me?”

“Tory, it was just a dream.” Miguel laughed. “It wasn’t such a big deal, alright - you wanted to hurt a bad person. It’s natural to want that.”

The Miguel from last year would’ve never said anything like this. He’d have told her to be forgiving or some such shit.  _ What Robby did really did a number on you, huh? _

“Ms. Nichols.” She heard Kreese say from the doorway. “Can I see you in my office please?”

Tory felt cold and afraid all over as she numbly followed him. She’d just been talking to her friend - those words were not for Sensei’s ears, but he’d clearly overheard them. So how much had he heard? 

* * *

“You’ve been slipping, Nichols.” Kreese said, leaning back in his chair and steeping his fingers together. “You’ve been losing your edge.”

“I’m sorry Sensei.” Tory said, keeping her voice as steady as possible despite the fear coursing through her. “I’ll do better.”

“Will you?” Kreese leaned forward. “Tell me - what were you talking to Diaz about?”

“Nothing.” She replied immediately. “I was just venting. It didn’t mean anything.”

“Diaz is not ready for that exercise yet - you understand that, right?” Sensei’s eye narrowed. “He needs more time.”

Tory’s fists clenched and her nails dug into the meat of her palms as another shudder went through her. The exercise? Yeah - that was when everything had changed, right? 

It was an exercise in controlled aggression, Kreese had said. A special training for her to learn how to maintain her anger at the optimal level - to keep it at the point where it’d make her an effective fighter but without letting it overwhelm her. 

Kreese was a great Sensei that way. He knew his students - knew about their individual strengths and weaknesses. Tory lacked control over her emotions, apparently and she’d needed to learn some self-control. She’d been excited when Kreese told her about the special training designed just for her. But the “training”...

“If you need another special session...” Kreese offered.

“No!” Tory replied, a little too quickly and a little too loudly. “I mean...”

“So that’s what this is about?” Sensei’s eyes narrowed. “You are not okay with what you did?”

She took a deep, fearful breath. “No, Sensei. I’m not.” She admitted. “What I did… what we did… we could get into a lot of trouble for that. It could ruin my whole life.”

“It won’t.” Kreese said, confidently. “You don’t need to worry about that.”

_ Not worry about it? Not worry about **that**? _

“I’m sorry, Sensei.” Tory said again. “But I can’t be part of something like that.”

“You already are.” Kreese said, coldly. “We are in this together.”

_ And we’ll go down together,  _ Tory thought with another cold wave washing over her.  _ No - I won’t go down for this. _

“Not anymore.” She said, quietly. “I think… I want to quit Cobra Kai.”

Kreese was taken aback for a moment. And then his nostrils flared in anger. 

“You what?”

“I-I need to focus on my family. And myself.” Tory said, keeping the tremors from her voice. “I just… need to take a break for a while.”

“Nichols - ” Kreese started. 

“I won’t say anything. I promise.” She reassured him quickly. “I’m not a snitch. I’ll keep everything a secret, but I won’t be a part of it anymore.”

“Tory, the tournament is close.” Kreese said in a sinister voice. “And you have a good chance of winning it. You are as good as Hawk, if not better. Don’t you want that? To be the first girl to win the All-Valley in history?”

She did. She really did. But…

“I’m afraid I might slip up, Sensei.” She said, with a hint of threat in her voice. “With Sensei Lawrence back… I’m afraid I might end up saying something. I think it’s best for everyone if I just walk away from it all.”

Kreese leaned back, his eyes cold and hard upon her. 

“I’m disappointed, Nichols. I thought you were made of sterner stuff.” His voice was like ice. “Fine - you can go. We don’t need quitters in Cobra Kai. Don’t show your face around here again.”

Tory nodded and walked out of the dojo, feeling lighter than she had in days. 


	7. Hawk

_ He barely recognized the kid sitting across him. Well, not like he could be blamed for it. He’d only seen mugshots of the guy and at that time, he’d had that ridiculous hairdo. Which, ofcourse, they wouldn’t let him keep in here. _

_ “You need something?”  _

_ Barry took note of his slight lisp - probably the result of that fat lip. And his right eye was black and swollen as well. _

_ “Eli Moskowitz, right?” Barry said.  _

_ “It’s Hawk.” _

_ “Right… So, Eli, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about Robby Keene.” Barry said.  _

_ The boy leaned back on the bench and pointedly folded his arms across his chest. He was making it clear that he wouldn’t answer to any name other than the one he’d chosen. _

_ “Alright, Hawk - can you tell me anything about Robby?”  _

_ Hawk smirked at his small victory. “Other than that he’s a loser? Not really.” _

_ So, not a fan.  _

_ “I was thinking more factual details and less opinions.” Barry said, smiling. _

_ “That is a fact.” Hawk sneered back. “That asshole is a bitch-ass loser and I’d have killed him myself if I’d had the chance.” _

_ Barry frowned curiously. “Do you know what happened to him?” _

_ “How would I know?” Hawk shrugged. “I’ve been in here all this time.” _

_ “Well, we both know you know more than you are saying.” Barry bluffed.  _

_ “You don’t know shit.” Hawk smirked back, seeing right through it. _

_ So there was something to know after all. If there hadn’t been, Hawk would’ve been more curious about what Barry was pretending to know. _

_ “Well… I know how you got to this point.” Barry said, consulting his notebook. “Let’s see. You landed in juvie first because you beat up two boys. You broke one’s eyesocket, blinding him in one eye. And you broke another’s jaw. That kid was stuck drinking soup from a straw for six months. And you did that because… they made fun of your hair? Wait - that can’t be right.” _

_ Hawk refused to take the out. “No - that’s right.” He said, proudly. “Those punks didn’t know who they were messing with.” _

_ “Right...” Barry looked down again. “Your lawyer got you a good deal... a two-month sentence. You really could’ve gotten off with just community service. But then you told the judge to go fuck himself and earned yourself a year in juvie.” _

_ “That asshole wanted me to apologize. ME?” Hawk shook his head. “I didn’t do anything wrong. I was just standing up for myself. Why the hell should I apologize?” _

_ “You were standing up for yourself by beating up anyone who made fun of your hair.” Barry said, hoping laying it out would make the guy realize how ridiculous it was. _

_ “Yeah. So?” Hawk shrugged.  _

_ “I thought… Kreese was supposed to be teaching you self-control.” Bonds said. “This happened two weeks before the tournament. You didn’t think about controlling your temper?” _

_ Hawk scoffed. “Tournament’s for pussies. I’m beyond that shit now.” _

_ “Clearly.” Barry said, looking around the visiting room. “You could’ve served your time quietly, but you kept getting into fights and kept getting your sentence extended.” _

_ “They were all making fun of my lip.” Hawk explained. “What? I was just supposed to let that go?” _

_ Right… the hair was an elaborate distraction from the scar on the lip. And now with that cropped short… _

_ “So you kept fighting and kept getting more time until you turned 18 and they transferred you out of juvie?” _

_ Hawk shrugged again.  _

_ And clearly, the kid hadn’t stopped. Judging by his face, he was still getting into fights. Except now, he was up against a lot more hardened criminals.  _

_ “Kid - I gotta ask. You really think it was worth it? Wasn’t Kreese teaching you to pick your battles?” _

_ “Sensei Kreese was a loser.” Hawk sneered. “So was Sensei Lawrence. And Miguel. And the rest of them. They have no idea what it takes to be a real badass.” _

_ “What?” Was he even sane anymore? _

_ “That whole bullshit about picking your battles - that’s pussy talk.” Hawk said. “That’s how the world breaks you. By making you think it’s okay to be a loser every now and then. No - you need to fight every battle and you need to win every time to remain a winner. You can’t give them a single inch.” _

_ “And… you think you’re a winner?” Bonds asked, frowning. _

_ “I am. You’ll see that soon.” There was madness in the boy’s eyes. “I’ll show everyone. The fight’s not over until I say it is and I won’t let it be over until I’ve won. I’ll show them all, once I get out of here.” _

_ Was it prison that did a number on this kid or was he already this broken when he got in? _

_ “So, you have no regrets at all? About anything?” _

_ Hawk grinned at him ferally. “The only regret I have is not taking care of Keene when I had the chance.” _

_ That piqued his interest. “When did you have that chance?” _

_ “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Hawk smirked smugly. “But you are not getting anything out of me. We’re done here.” _

_ Confused and uncertain, the PI watched the prisoner being led back to his cell.  _

_ “Poor kid.” The guard leading him out said to him. “He doesn’t belong here.” _

_ “I don’t know.” Barry shrugged. “Sounds like this is exactly where he belongs.” _

_ “Nah… man. The way he keeps picking fights with everyone...” The guard shook his head. “The kid belongs in a psych ward. He needs some serious mental help and he’s not gonna get any in here.” _

_ Barry looked back at the door Hawk had disappeared through and found himself agreeing with that assessment. _

* * *

Dry leaves and twigs crunched under his boots as Hawk panted his way up the trail. He wiped the sweat from his eyes and peered through the foliage, barely seeing a hint of his destination. But the little cabin Sensei Kreese had told him about came into view the closer he got. 

_ Half an hour,  _ He saw as he checked his phone.  _ Not bad, given the distance. _

“What’s more important for a fighter?” Kreese had asked him. “Right instincts or the right thought process?”

“Instincts.” Hawk had replied, immediately. “Because in an actual fight, you don’t always have the time to overthink things.”

“Wrong - they are both equally important.” Kreese had told him. “Not having time to think things through simply means you can’t think fast enough. That’s part of  _ your  _ weakness - Diaz is a natural fighter because he has the right instincts, but he can also keep the presence of mind during a fight. You… lose yourself in the fight.”

Hawk had nodded, taking in the instruction.

“I’ve got a training exercise designed just for you.” Kreese had said. “It’ll teach you how to think clearly even in a stressful situation. To use your brain and notice details instead of giving into aggression.”

Was this it, though? Sensei had parked the car outside the woods and given him a map with the trail mapped out, with fifteen minute to memorize it. Hawk was supposed to make his way to the cabin as fast as possible. 

And that hadn’t been that hard. Sure, he’d gotten confused a couple of times, but there was nothing to stress about here and the cabin was right in front of him. With Sensei Kreese sitting on the porch.

“Congratulations. You made it.” Kreese said, throwing him a water bottle as he got close.

Hawk nodded gratefully and unscrewed the cap, taking big gulps.

“Was this supposed to be hard?” He asked, cockily. 

“No - this was just the first part.” Kreese chuckled. “And you failed.”

It took Hawk a moment to understand that.  _ Failed? How? Did I take too long? But Sensei didn’t set any time limit. _

“I’m an old man, Hawk.” Kreese said, smiling. “I don’t have your speed anymore. And I started after you - but I still made it here long before you did. How did I do that?”

“Uhh….” Hawk blinked, trying to understand. 

“I took a shortcut.” Kreese grinned. 

“You didn’t tell me about any shortcut.” Hawk said, indignantly. 

“It’s there on the map - the one I gave you.” 

Hawk pulled out the folded paper from his pocket to consult it. He’d been so proud of not having needed to look at it during the hike - but apparently, that meant nothing. Sure enough - there were shorter routes to the cabin. Dirt tracks that cut through the looping, curving trail Sensei had marked out in red ink.

“You  _ told  _ me to follow the trail.” Hawk complained. 

“I didn’t say which one.” Kreese replied. “You just assumed I wanted you to pick the obvious red one and you didn’t even think of looking at the other options. Isn’t that right?”

Hawk huffed, angry at himself for his stupidity and nodded. 

“Well, let’s hope you do better with stage 2.” Kreese said, encouragingly. 

_ I will. You can bet on it. _

Kreese stood up and turned to go inside the cabin, signaling to Hawk to follow. The teenager walked in behind him into the dingy room and his eyes took a moment to adjust to the dark. He looked around as they did and then he saw a figure huddled up in the corner. 

Hawk froze in place, his whole body going numb and cold.

His hair was longer - almost shoulder length of dirty, matted curls that hadn’t been washed in a while. He was much thinner. The shirt on his body looked like it was suspended from a hanger. He was pale and gaunt with bloodshot eyes sunken deep into his skull. And there were fading bruises on his face and neck - the parts where skin was visible. He looked almost nothing like he used to, but there was still no mistaking that face.

What the hell was Robby Keene doing in Sensei Kreese’s cabin?

“S-Sensei… what the hell…?” Hawk stammered. 

“Mr. Keene here is going to help us today with your training.” Kreese said, smiling at his student.

_ Help? Him?  _ “He belongs in prison, Sensei.” Hawk said, angrily. “After what he did to Miguel...”

“Prison’s too merciful for him. Wouldn’t you agree?”

That’s when Hawk saw it - the chain with a handcuff around Robby’s foot that was attached to the wall. The boney ankle was red and chafed raw. He’d been here a while.

“B-but… people are looking for him. The cops...” Hawk tried to wrap his head around it. “If anyone finds out...”

“No one’s looking for him.” Kreese replied. “If they had been, they would've found him easily. Not even his dad cares to find him anymore.”

Hawk nodded slowly, taking in the sight before him. Robby was staring back at them, blankly, as if he barely registered his presence there. Sensei Kreese had obviously found Robby and brought him here… but why?

_ For you. For his students. Sensei Kreese knows that you have unfinished business with him and he wasn’t going to let the guy get away with what he did. He brought him here to make sure that Robby gets what he deserves. _

“You understand that we have to keep it between us, right?” Kreese said, slowly. “I’m only sharing this with the students I trust the most.”

_ Sensei trusts me. And ofcourse, I’ll prove that he is right to do so.  _

“But, Miguel...” Hawk said as the thought occurred to him. 

“Diaz will get his turn.” Kreese smirked. “Don’t worry about that. When he’s ready, he’ll get his chance at payback.”

_ Sensei knows what he’s doing. Sure, you doubted him when he told you to keep your hands off Miyagi-Do, but he was testing you all along. Trying to see if you could follow orders. And this is your reward. _

“So, what’s the exercise?” Hawk asked, his heart beating with excitement. “Because he doesn’t look like he can put up much of a fight.”

“Never underestimate your enemy, Hawk.” Kreese chided. “The exercise is catching him. We’ll cut him loose and give him a five minutes’ head-start. You need to hunt him down and drag him back here. You’ll need to have sharp eyes and ears for this - you’ll need to observe the tracks and listen for his footsteps. You'll need to think like your enemy - figure out a way to outmaneuver him. That’s what you need to work on.”

His heart was pounding in his ears and he could practically feel the blood rushing to his head. 

“And if you fail… well, Robby escapes and we both get in trouble.” Kreese finished. “Don’t let me down, kid.”

* * *

“Roooobbyyyy!” Hawk singsonged as he followed the retreating footsteps. “Robby Keeeeene!”

He chuckled as he heard the footsteps fumble and speed up and jogged a little faster.

As difficult as this exercise could’ve possibly been, Robby’s state made it laughably easy. He hadn’t said anything the whole time Hawk had been there. He hadn’t made a sound as Kreese had explained the rules and undone his restraints. Or when he’d been pushed out the door and told to run. He’d moved slowly at first - as if he’d forgotten how to walk - and then he’d started running the moment he’d gotten to the woods. 

The guy was already beaten. Defeated. And if Cobra Kai preached mercy, Hawk might’ve given him that by putting him out of his misery. But since it didn’t, he was toying with his prey instead. 

The guy was pitifully slow. Ofcourse he’d chosen to go down the closest trail and ofcourse he’d chosen to go off it at some point. He probably thought he was being clever. But Hawk could clearly see the disturbed leaves and broken branches where he’d gone off and within five minutes of that, he’d started hearing the shuffling footsteps ahead. He caught a glimpse of his quarry a couple of times and he made sure to make as much noise as possible to warn Robby of his arrival. And then laughed as he saw him panic and start running again. 

At this point, he wasn’t even worried about losing him in the woods. The drops of blood from the barefoot boy were making tracking him way too easy. 

The forest floor sloped downwards abruptly and Hawk jumped on top of a nearby boulder, getting a bird’s eye view of the expanse below him. He saw Robby again, stumbling between the trees, limping as he moved. The setup was almost poetic.

_ And the Hawk swoops in on the cornered rat. _

Hawk rushed down, letting the gravity pull him faster and saw his prey look back in panic. Robby scrambled away faster - but not fast enough. Hawk was upon him before he could find cover, landing a flying kick to his back that spent him sprawling on the forest floor. 

His victim was done. Hawk casually sauntered over to the guy groaning on the ground, immobilized with pain.

_ This was it, Sensei? The tough training exercise? Hunting down this pussy? _

Kreese had told him to bring Robby back in one piece, but he hadn’t said anything about his condition. And sure, he’d need to leave the guy alive for Miguel, but he had his own debt to pay here. 

“Get up!” Hawk growled. “Time for payback!”

Robby groaned again and stayed down, unmoving. So Hawk grabbed him by his hair and pulled him to his feet.  _ He has lost all his muscle mass. He’s weak and light - like he weighs nothing. Like he -  _

Robby swung his arm back and something cold and hard hit Hawk right across his temple. He stumbled back, rocked and dizzy, and felt something slick and wet flow down his face. His vision focused for a moment and he saw Robby raising his arm again. 

_ Shit! Where did he get that rock? _

The stone came down and everything went black.

* * *

A scream. That’s what it was - the thing that woke him up. Or that’s what it felt like. He was too dizzy to tell. Hawk woke up, groaning and groggily got to his feet, trying to get a sense of his bearings. 

_ Shit! Keene! _

He’d messed up. He’d let the guy get the drop on him and knock him unconscious. And now Keene had gotten away and if he made it out of the woods, he’d go to the cops and Sensei would be in trouble. He’d let Sensei down.

No - there was nothing to worry about. The woods were pretty big and he hadn’t been out of that long. Robby couldn’t have gotten far. Hawk would catch up quickly enough if he hurried. There was no way Keene was making it out of this, unless…

_ Shit! The car! _

Hawk looked around, identifying his surroundings. Ofcourse - Keene hadn’t been running around blindly. They were close to where Sensei had parked the car and if Robby managed to get to that…

Hawk rushed ahead, panicking, hoping to get there before it was too late. He got to the clearing sooner than he’d expected and saw Sensei's car parked there. Robby was already there, sitting by the driver-side door with his back to his predator.

With a snarl, Hawk rushed forward and Robby turned around to see him. Panicking, the other boy scrambled backwards, but something stopped him short. More careful now, Hawk stopped as well and saw a pair of metal plates biting into Robby’s leg. 

_ A bear-trap? _

Hawk grinned as he saw the chain disappearing under the car.

_ Ofcourse, Sensei would take precautions. He knew that Robby would come here if he managed to get away and he already had a trap in place.  _

“Too bad, Keene!” Hawk mocked. “You almost made it.”

He advanced on his enemy with a twisted smile on his face and Robby scrambled backwards. He raised his arms in defense and Hawk easily swatted his weakened limbs aside. Lifting him up by his collar, Hawk raised his fist and punched him square in the face. Then he watched in satisfaction as the skin split apart and Robby started bleeding from his lip and his nose. Then he punched him a second time.

“HAWK!” Sensei Kreese’s voice cut through the air like a knife, making Hawk drop his victim and stand to attention. 

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” Kreese said, coldly, advancing on him.

Hawk frowned, confused and looked at Robby. “He deserves it.” He said, defensively. 

“But you don’t deserve to give it to him.” Kreese replied. “Not after failing so miserably.”

Hawk flushed with shame and his fists clenched by his side.  _ Fucking Robby Keene. He always ruins everything. _

“He suckered me.” Hawk growled. “I wasn’t expecting him to use a rock.”

“Isn’t that what we were supposed to be working on?” Kreese said, sneering. “For you to think before you let your guard down?”

“He got lucky.” Hawk defended. “It won’t happen again.”

“Is that right, Robby? Did you just get lucky?” Kreese asked, turning to the boy. Robby stayed silent. “It’s okay - you can talk.”

“No.” Robby said, his voice hoarse from disuse. “I picked up that rock as soon as I got out. I figured I wouldn’t be able to get away - so I was waiting for when he caught me.”

“Hear that?” Kreese turned back to Hawk, derisively. “You underestimating your opponent has become so predictable, that he actually counted on it.”

Shaking his head in disappointment, Kreese knelt down beside Robby, unscrewing and loosening the trap. 

“Now what?” Hawk asked, uncertainly. 

“Now we go back to the cabin and I clean you two losers up.” Kreese replied, pulling Robby to his feet. “I was going to let you go a few rounds with him as a reward - but you don’t deserve it. I’m disappointed in you, Hawk.”

Hawk stood there, numbly as he watched Kreese support a limping Robby back up the trail. 

“Let’s hope you do better next time.”


	8. Robby

_ Barry was not particularly fond of computers. After all, he’d spent most of his life in a time where good old-fashioned legwork was the norm. Getting all the answers with just some clickety-clacks on the keyboard almost felt like cheating to him.  _

_ But… there were advantages to it that he could not deny. Like not having to carry big boxes everywhere. Having a whole lot of evidence fit into this tiny little thumb-drive was really convenient.  _

_ “You sure you wanna watch this? It’s some pretty sick stuff.” He’d been told.  _

_ Cops didn’t like sharing evidence with civilians - even in closed cases like this one. But he had his contacts in the department from his time there who were more than happy to do him a favor.  _

_ “I’ve been around for a while.” He’d replied. “Seen plenty of sick stuff already.” _

_ “Well… most of it is just footage of the kid in the cabin. The old bastard was keeping an eye on him from afar. It’s the stuff where they are together that you need to look out for.” _

_ The first part was certainly true - as Barry discovered when he went through the first few videos. Most of them were of Robby Keene, alone in the cabin with his leg chained to the wall. He seemed to spend most of his time lying down on the bed or tugging at the chain, trying to pull it loose or tending to his wounds.  _

_ Kreese had apparently taken care of the basic necessities - there were a bunch of preserved food packets within reach, a bucket to piss in that got cleaned out when Kreese came to restock and some medical supplies like ointments and bandages. And not much else.  _

_ It looked like Kreese made sure to turn the camera off whenever he came to visit - which happened to be every couple of days. It looked like he allowed the kid to clean himself up and change his clothes whenever he did. And it looked like the kid was always worse for wear after each of his visits. _

_ The hard part was watching Robby start sobbing brokenly every now and then.  _

_ The hardest part was watching him lose his mind and start screaming and begging incoherently.  _

_ This next one was different - Barry could see that right away. Robby was sitting up on the bed with his knees pulled to his chest, staring right at the camera as if he was seeing Barry through it. _

_ “What’s the point of this?” He asked, blankly.  _

_ “I’m giving you a chance to tell your side of the story.” A voice replied, offscreen. Probably Kreese. “Don’t you want to set the record straight?” _

_ Robby scoffed hollowly. “As if you are actually going to show this to anyone...” _

_ The man offscreen didn’t reply to that - but Barry could hear the scrape of a chair being pulled in place.  _

_ “Go on - if you have something left to say, now is your chance.” _

_ “Please… just let me go.” Robby pleaded, brokenly. “I won’t tell anyone about this, I promise. Not like they’d believe me anyway, right?” _

_ “Go where, Mr. Keene?” Kreese asked, almost gently. “You have nothing left to go back to.” _

_ “I need to… see my mom.” Robby’s breath caught in his throat. “She needs me.” _

_ “You mom’s already dead.” _

_ “NO, SHE’S NOT!” Robby screamed. “She’s NOT dead! She CAN’T be!” _

_ The screen was silent for a moment.  _

_ “It’s a trick. A con.” Robby said, more calmly. “Mr. LaRusso and… and my dad - they’re trying to lure me back. They must have figured that this would...” _

_ “Why would they go through all that trouble to get  _ **_you_ ** _ back?”Kreese said, scornfully.  _

_ “Because they… care about me.” Robby replied, uncertainly.  _

_ “We’ve been through this already, kid.” Kreese sounded disappointed. “No one cares about you. If they did, they’d actually be looking for you and they’d have found you by now.” _

_ Robby shook his head stubbornly.  _

_ There were some other sounds and a new set of voices. _

_ “If you want, I could help you try to find him...” That was Kreese, but he sounded a little different. _

_ “What?” That was Johnny Lawrence’s voice. _

_ “I’ve been homeless. So I know a thing or two about where people go. And I’m still in touch with some of my old buddies. I might be able to help you look for him.”  _

_ A recording. Of course. _

_ “Robby made his choice. He’ll come back when he’s ready.” _

_ “Johnny… really… If the kid didn’t come back when his own mother died… What kind of person does that?” _

_ “Like I said - he made his choice about who he wants to be. How I feel about it doesn’t matter.” _

_ “See?” The real Kreese was talking now. “I  _ **_offered_ ** _ to help him find you and he didn’t even bother taking me up on it. That’s how little he cares about you. Why the hell would he want a screwup like you back in his life?” _

_ “What do you want from me?” Robby asked, brokenly. “You already got what you wanted - so what do you need me for?” _

_ “Well… that’s a little bit trickier now.” Kreese replied, musingly. “At first I figured I could use you to get to Johnny. I thought he’d be so desperate to have you back that he’d do anything. That… didn’t pan out. Turns out, Diaz was the key after all - the one that your dad really cared about. He was the real way to get through to Johnny and you...” _

_ Barry could practically see the guy shrug offscreen.  _

_ “So yeah - I got my student back without needing to use you. I’m not really sure what to do with you now.” Kreese continued. “Guess I’ll keep you here until I figure something out.” _

_ “Fuck you, you piece of shit.” _

_ Attaboy, Barry said, unconsciously.  _

_ There was a scrape of chair being pushed back and Kreese’s figure walked into the frame, making Robby back away desperately. Barry noticed that there was a lit cigar in his hand.  _

_ “I thought I already taught you the lesson about respecting your elders.” Kreese snarled, grabbing the boy’s arm and pulling it towards him. “Guess I need to teach you again.” _

_ “No - No, please...” Robby begged.  _

_ Kreese pressed the burning end into his forearm and Robby screamed.  _

_ Barry Bonds snapped his laptop shut, disgusted and shaken to his core.  _

* * *

Robby paced the floor nervously and looked at his phone for the hundredth time that day. 

_ C’mon dad. Where the hell are you? _

_ You know where he is. Where they all are - at the hospital, making sure Miguel is alright. _

He unlocked his phone and his thumb hovered over the call button again, trying to gather the courage to press it. Then he put it back in his pocket. 

_ How long is this going to take? Miguel’s alive, right? They’d have said something on the news if he was dead. Why does dad have to stay there? Why can’t he just come home? It’s not like he can do anything. _

_ No - you don’t get to complain. You don’t get to ask anything here. Not after what you did. _

**_He_ ** _ attacked  _ **_me._ ** _ And I got hurt too. Doesn’t dad care even a little about that? He could’ve atleast called me… _

He went to the window and peered outside to see if Johnny’s car was back. Or if anyone was around. But the whole place was empty. 

_ It’s already dark outside. It has been hours since the fight. He must have thought about me atleast once, right? Wondered where I was, what I was doing - whether the cops had picked me up? Is Miguel the only one he cares about? _

_ You know he doesn’t care about you. No one does. They barely cared before - when you were actually trying to be a good guy. And now… after what you did… well, you kind of deserve to have nobody care about you, right? _

Robby shuddered… almost threw up again at the memory of what he’d done. 

_ I made a mistake. A horrible mistake. I lost control and kicked him before I even knew what I was doing. But it’s what I do next that counts, right?  _

_ Then do the right thing. Turn yourself in. Face the consequences. Pay the price. That’s the only way to make anything right. _

_ I will. I swear I will. I just need to talk to dad first. And Mr. LaRusso. I need… I need them to know that I’m sorry. That I’m choosing to turn myself in. It’s important that they know that.  _

_ Please… dad… when are you coming home? _

Frustrated, Robby took his phone out again and called him this time. He waited with bated breath, his heart pounding in his ears, as he heard it ringing. 

No reply. His dad wasn’t answering. 

_ I can’t sit here forever. I need to go look for him. But I can’t just walk into the hospital. _

Robby stopped, thinking. 

There was one more place he could check.

* * *

Johnny wasn’t at the dojo… but someone was. His car wasn’t there in the parking lot and the dojo was dark and empty, but the light in the office was on and Robby could see a shadow through the drawn blinds. Curious, Robby stepped inside.

“Hello?” He asked, knocking on the door. 

He’d never seen the old man before. But he was wearing the black Cobra Kai gi like his dad and he was sitting at the desk like he belonged there. 

“What can I do for you?” The old man asked, looking up at him.

“Uh… I’m looking for my dad.” Robby said, uncertainly. “Johnny Lawrence.”

The old guy’s eyes widened in recognition and he smiled at him.

“So you are Robby Keene?” He said and something about his tone made Robby intensely uncomfortable. “Well, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Robby frowned. He didn’t like being at a disadvantage and he searched his brain for an explanation as to who he might be and why he was here. And then it hit him. 

“You are John Kreese.” He said. “I heard from Mr. LaRusso that you were working with my dad.”

Kreese smirked. “I’m sure that’s not all he told you.”

No - Mr. LaRusso had said a lot more. And in a lot more colorful language as well. Not that it mattered right now. 

“Have you seen my dad?” Robby asked, staying on point. 

“I’ve talked to him.” Kreese replied, carefully. “He told me to take care of things here while he...”

_ Takes care of Miguel, right?  _ Robby thought, his heart sinking. Ofcourse, Miguel was his priority, but he’d still cared enough about his other students to check-in at the dojo. But he hadn’t cared enough about Robby to do the same. 

“You… haven’t talked to him?” Kreese asked, his eyes narrowed. “After what happened?”

Robby shook his head. 

“Well… he probably thinks you ran back to LaRusso.” Kreese siad, shrugging. “You did side with the enemy, after all.”

“No, I...” Robby started, defensively. “I haven’t talked to Mr. LaRusso either.”

“I see.” There was a sinister edge to his voice that made Robby feel like he should get out of there as soon as possible. 

“Just… tell my dad I came looking for him if you see him, okay?” Robby said, turning to go.

“Wait a moment, son.” Kreese voice was different now. More… concerned? “Looks like you are hurt - did you get yourself checked out yet?”

Robby regarded him suspiciously as Kreese took a closer look at his bruises. Sure, he’d taken his share of hits during the fight - his lip still throbbed and his ribs still hurt from where Miguel had kicked him. But it wasn’t something he wanted to share with this sinister stranger.

“I’m fine.” He said, coldly. “I just need to find my dad.”

He turned to leave and saw Kreese’s reflection on the window move behind him as he did. There wasn’t enough time for him to turn and he barely got his arm up in time to block Kreese’s swinging fist. 

It still hit him like a cement block and the impact sent pain shooting through his bruised ribs. The force of the blow knocked the air out of him and sent him sprawling to the floor on his hands and knees. He’d barely taken a breath when he felt a thick arm wrap around his neck and pull him up. 

_ Shit! _

Robby struggled against the choke. He swung his elbow back, catching Kreese on the side and making him grunt, but the old sensei didn’t loosen the hold. He tried to slam his foot down, but Kreese moved his out of the way. And Kreese hadn’t left him enough space to slam his head back. A second attempt at elbowing him met nothing but air.

_ Think. Think. Think. You need to get out of this. _

Breathing was getting harder. The edges of his vision were going dark. His head pounded as it filled with blood and it felt like his veins were about to burst. He could feel his heartbeat behind his eyes. He pounded at the arm around his neck desperately to no avail and his blows got consecutively weaker. 

_ Get out of this. Break free. You need to…. _

* * *

His head throbbed as he opened his eyes. Everything was dark around him and if not for the dim dawn light coming through the window, he might’ve thought that his eyes were still closed. The room came into focus slowly… he was somewhere unfamiliar… some kind of log cabin you didn’t see in the city. And the chirping outside confirmed that suspicion. 

Robby groaned, rubbing his head clear. 

“Finally.” A gruff voice said from the shadows. 

_ Kreese! Right! The guy knocked me out and… I need to get away from him. _

Pushing through the pain, Robby jumped and ran… and tripped as something snagged his foot. He turned to see a cuff around his ankle, with the other end chained to the wall. 

“What the hell?” Robby asked, hoarsely, pulling at the chain. 

“Well… now that you are awake, let me introduce you to your new accommodations.” Kreese said, stepping out of the shadows. “Think of this as your new home.”

He was too far, Robby realized. Out of reach. He looked around for something to throw at the guy but there was nothing there either.

“Let me go!” Robby shouted. “What the hell do you think you are doing?”

Kreese folded his arms across his chest. “I told you already - this is your new home?”

_ Is he insane? He is, isn’t he? _

“Mr. LaRusso told me you were a psycho.” Robby sneered. “I didn’t know you were this crazy. You can’t just kidnap people for no reason like this!”

Kreese shook his head a little sadly. 

“I do have a reason, Mr. Keene!” He explained, quietly. “You are a problem. You are Johnny’s weakness. You are the reason why he didn’t go all out against Miyagi-Do - why he made his own students weak. And I’m taking care of this problem...”

A chill went through Robby at those words.

“You won’t get away with this.” He warned. “When my dad finds out...”

“Finds out… what?” Kreese gave him a sinister smile. “That you ran away like a coward?”

“I didn’t!” Robby said, indignantly. “I’m going to turn myself in. I just...”

“And who’s gonna believe that?” Kreese scoffed. “A screwup like you? Ofcourse you’re gonna run.”

“No.” Robby shook his head. “I’m different now. I’m not… I wouldn’t...”

“But you already did.” Kreese smirked. “Right… I didn’t tell you everything you did. See - you were too much of a coward to stick around after the fight. So you ran. You couldn’t face your dad either… so you waited until he left and then broke into his house. Well - not broke in, exactly, since you had the key. But you did clean him out. Took all his cash and anything valuable he had… which wasn’t much, but enough for you to get away. Then you sent him a message telling him not to look for you and threw your phone in the trash.”

Robby stared at him in horror as Kreese spun the story. 

“No...” He shook his head. “No - that’s not gonna work. No one’s gonna buy that. No one’s gonna believe that I just ran away.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not a coward.” Robby replied. “I don’t run away from my problems. And I’m definitely not gonna steal from my own father. My dad knows that. Mr. LaRusso knows that.”

Kreese laughed. “It’s almost touching that you believe that.”

Robby wracked his brain for something else - some other angle. There was no way this preposterous scheme was going to work. 

“Even if they think I ran, they’ll still try to find me.” Robby argued. “They’ll… they’ll look for me. They’ll try to figure out where I went and then… then they’ll figure out that I didn’t run after all. And then… then they’ll find out what you did.”

Kreese looked amused. Why was he amused? He should be afraid.

“And why do you think they’d do that?” He asked.

“Because… they care about me.” Robby said, a lot more confidently than he felt. “And that’s what you do when you care about someone - you look for them.”


	9. Miguel

_ So this was supposed to be the hero of this story? _

_ Barry took a closer look at Miguel Diaz. He’d seen a fair share of heroes in his time. Guys who acted like tough badasses. Others who deflected praise with fake humility. And yet others who basked in the adulation. They all had one thing in common - they were all proud of what they did.  _

_ Miguel Diaz didn’t look proud. He looked nervous and ashamed. And that attitude did not fit with the story he’d been told.  _

_ “I don’t know anything about what happened to Robby.” Miguel told him right away. “I don’t know why you think I can help you.” _

_ “Well… people often don’t know what they know.” Barry said, smiling. “You might know more than you think. But… let’s start on a positive note here. Let’s talk about your amazing come-back story.” _

_ “Not much of a story.” Miguel shrugged.  _

_ “C’mon.” Barry encouraged. “The doctors weren’t sure that you’d ever walk again. But you proved them all wrong. You worked your ass off in PT. You started training again as soon as you could. And then… you won the All-Valley Tournament for the second time in a row. That’s the kind of stuff they make movies out of.” _

_ He was watching Miguel’s reaction closely, but Miguel simply shrugged again.  _

_ “I guess… the only thing missing from the movie would be your final opponent.” Barry suggested. “Robby should’ve been the one you faced in the end, right?” _

_ It was subtle - the tensing of muscles, the widening of eyes and the paling of the face - but years of experience allowed Barry to catch it anyway. Miguel was afraid. _

_ “You didn’t want to face Robby?” Barry asked, shrewdly.  _

_ “No, I didn’t.” Miguel replied. “At that time… I was afraid of him.” _

_ “And now?” _

_ “And now there is no reason to be afraid of him anymore.” Miguel said.  _

_ Then what was he afraid of? _

_ “Still - your win was pretty impressive. Considering everything.” _

_ Miguel shook his head sadly. “I shouldn’t have won. Not like that.” _

_ Barry raised his eyebrows, prompting him to continue.  _

_ “There wasn’t much competition.” Miguel explained. “Tory quit the dojo. Hawk got himself in trouble about 2 weeks before the tournament. And Sam wasn’t competing at all. Any one of them would have beaten me.” _

_ “Still - there was plenty of good competition.” _

_ “Not really.” Miguel replied. “I was the kid with pins in his neck. Everyone was holding back against me. It was like… I won by taking advantage of my own weakness. I didn’t want to win like that.” _

_ “I see.” There was something here. “The timing of your friends falling out of running - that didn’t strike you as odd?” _

_ Miguel frowned, not understanding.  _

_ “I mean - you think they knew anything about Robby?” Bonds clarified.  _

_ “No - ofcourse not.” Miguel scoffed. “They’d never be part of something like that.” _

_ “Even Hawk?” _

_ Miguel pursed his lips. “Hawk was… angry. And misguided. But he was honest about his anger.” _

_ Not as honest as you think, kid. _

_ “Alright.” Barry let that go. “So what about Kreese?” _

_ Miguel's face twisted in disgust.  _

_ “Kreese was a monster.” He said. “What he did… that’s unforgivable.” _

_ “But he was your Sensei. You trained with him for months. You didn’t notice anything wrong in all that time?” _

_ Miguel shook his head, ashamed. “He fooled us. People told me that he was up to no good, but I didn’t believe them. I thought… he had good intentions. That he wanted to do the right thing. I didn’t realize the truth until it was too late.” _

_ “But it wasn’t too late though, right?” Barry asked. “Not for you?” _

_ “I hope not.” Miguel replied. “I thought he was teaching us how to be strong… but he was just making us angrier. More violent. I-I’m learning to be better now.” _

_ “Yes… I heard about that.” Barry smiled. “You are training with Daniel LaRusso now, correct? Robby’s old Sensei?” _

_ Miguel nodded. “We’re not… doing much karate, though. He’s being careful. He wants me to learn how to control my emotions first.” _

_ Barry nodded. “LaRusso was also Johnny’s rival, correct?” Miguel nodded. “Is that why you had a falling out with your sensei? Because as I understand it, you two used to be pretty close.” _

_ Miguel looked down in shame and shook his head again.  _

_ “Sensei Lawrence stopped talking to me long before I started training with Mr. LaRusso.” _

_ “Why?” _

_ “Because… I trusted Kreese.” Miguel replied. “And I convinced him to do the same.” _

_ Something was seriously off here. Really out of place.  _

_ “You don’t expect me to believe that, do you?” Barry frowned. “Miguel… you made a mistake in trusting Kreese - but you weren’t the only one. And you didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, you did the right thing… you have nothing to be ashamed of. Right?” _

_ Miguel gave him a hollow chuckle. “You don’t know what you are talking about.” He said. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes and… I was too much of a coward to fix them.” _

* * *

Miguel looked around at the cheering crowd, exulting. 

_ I did it. I won.  _

His opponent - Keith - bowed respectfully, still rubbing his chest where Miguel had hit him. And Miguel bowed back. 

_ Take that, Robby. You tried to break me. You wanted to destroy me. But you failed. I’m standing here a winner and you are a loser out there, somewhere, too scared to even show your face. _

The applause was deafening. His friends were all around him, shaking his hand and patting him on the back. His mom and yaya were beside themselves, almost crying in relief. Sensei Kreese was nodding and smiling approvingly. And even Sam was clapping for him from the crowd, impressed. 

And Sensei Lawrence… he looked proud too. He clapped Miguel on the back with a “good job”. Despite there still being tension between him and Sensei Kreese, even he could not deny that Miguel had won clean this time. He hadn’t made a single questionable move. Even Mr. LaRusso could not have found anything to criticize him over - had he had the courage to be there. 

Even so, Sensei Lawrence’s mind seemed to be half somewhere else.

_ Probably thinking about Robby,  _ Miguel thought, resentfully.  _ Why does he still…? I know Robby is his son, but he’s also an asshole. The guy does horrible things and then runs away, leaving the rest of us to deal with his mess. He never spared a thought for Sensei… so why does Sensei keep worrying about him? We are all better off without him in our lives. Why can’t he see that? _

Miguel shook his head clear of the thoughts and chose to focus on his victory instead. Keene didn’t matter anymore. Pretty soon everyone would forget that he even existed and things would go back to how they were before he was in their lives. 

So there was no reason for him to be afraid of that guy anymore.

“It’s not over.” Kreese whispered, smiling proudly. “Remember the lesson - we never stop moving forward.”

“Yes, Sensei.” Miguel replied. 

“But… I think you have earned yourself a little reward.” 

* * *

The car ride was mostly quiet and it made Miguel a little nervous. And he didn’t know why. He trusted Sensei Kreese… he truly did. And even if he hadn’t, there was no reason why Sensei would harm his star student, right on the heels of his glorious victory. 

It was the others… that’s what it was. Sam and Sensei Lawrence and Mr. LaRusso… all of them constantly telling him not to trust Sensei Kreese. They were all still living in the past. They refused to see how Sensei Kreese had changed. And despite knowing better, it had ended up creating a sliver of doubt in Miguel’s mind.

“So… about this special training…?” Miguel ventured. 

That was probably the other reason why he was nervous. Sensei had said that it was time for him to take the next step, but he hadn’t specified what that next step was. And after Hawk and Tory…

Well, they hadn’t said anything, but Miguel knew that Kreese had held one on one training sessions with them as well. And Tory had quit right after that and Hawk had become even more aggressive and out of control and ended up arrested for assault. 

“I never said anything about training.” Kreese replied, not looking away from the road. “Miguel, this is your reward for doing so well this year. You proved yourself, despite everything you’ve been through. You deserve something special for that.”

Miguel frowned. “You said it was the next step in my training?”

“No… this is your next step as a person.” Kreese explained. “This has nothing to do with karate. It’s more about helping you with your problem.”

“My... problem?”

Kreese smiled at him kindly. “You are a talented kid, Miguel. You have more natural talent than anyone I’ve ever seen in my life. But… there is still something holding you back.”

“No, there isn’t.” Miguel defended hotly. 

“You held back against Keene.” Kreese reminded him. “You didn’t finish him off when you could have.”

Miguel pursed his lips. He’d made a mistake the last time - he understood that now. He wouldn’t have had to go through hell if he’d just broken Robby’s arm. But… that was in the past. He was different now. 

“I won’t make the same mistake again.” He told Sensei. 

“You think I don’t see it during training? Or during your matches?” Kreese asked. “You hesitate while fighting. You don’t go all in. Why is that?”

_ Don’t show weakness. If you want to be tough, you need to look tough as well. _

“It’s all right.” Kreese reassured him. “We are not in the dojo. It’s just the two of us and I won’t judge you.”

Miguel sighed. “I’m… afraid. Of getting hurt again. Of… going through that.”

“But you already went through hell and came out on the other side.” Kreese said.

“I didn’t. I haven’t.” Miguel confessed, bitterly. “I’m still not strong enough… not as strong as I was before. And I don’t...” He trailed off.

“Exactly.” Kreese agreed. “You see the truth too, don’t you? Your opponents have been going easy on you because they still see you as weak. And because of your fear, you see yourself as weak too.”

Miguel nodded sullenly. He’d felt like this for a while now, even though he hadn’t told anyone about it. 

“That’s what this reward is.” Kreese said. “Because of what happened, you have this fear set inside you and that’s stopping you from reaching your full potential. And no amount of training can fix that. But today, I’ll help you get over that fear. And if you do as I say, you won’t need to be afraid of anything ever again. Or anyone.”

Miguel nodded, relieved. Ofcourse, Sensei Kreese would understand. He always understood his students, maybe even better than Sensei Lawrence. And he was truly looking out for them. All those other naysayers didn’t know what they were talking about. 

* * *

The hike ended up being more taxing than he’d expected. A year ago, he’d have barely broken a sweat at this pace. But now he was huffing and panting and drinking water by the gulps. On the other hand, a few months ago, he’d have barely made it halfway through it. 

Sensei came here to relax… that’s what he’d told Miguel. And now that he saw the little log cabin, it did look like a pretty relaxing place. Albeit a little creepy. The place was long ways from the bustle of the city and the closest human was probably miles away. It was quiet and peaceful… and yet it had this horror movie vibe that Miguel couldn’t shake. 

“You sure there are no predators around?” Miguel asked, looking around nervously for any wolves or bears.

“We are the only predators here, Miguel.” Kreese chuckled. “With only one prey to hunt.”

Miguel frowned. Were they here to hunt? He wasn’t sure how he felt about killing some innocent animal… and he wasn’t sure how that was supposed to help him get over his fear. 

“Like… deer?” He asked. 

“More like rats.” Kreese replied, unlocking the cabin door and letting him in. 

The room was pretty dark and came into focus slowly. The smell was really the first thing he noticed and it almost made him gag. Covering his nose, he looked around for the source and saw the figure huddled on a small bed. 

A kind of familiar face looked back at him, but the eyes were the only feature recognized. This was no longer the face that haunted his dreams. 

“Finally, huh?” Robby chuckled. “About time.”

Miguel felt his stomach clenching and churning with fear. He gulped and stopped himself from taking a step back. 

“Sensei… what’s going on?” He asked, tremulously. 

“He is your reward, Diaz.” Kreese explained in a chilly voice. “I’m giving you a chance to get your revenge. You want that, don’t you?”

Miguel blinked and stared, trying to wrap his head around it. Ofcourse he wanted revenge. He’d spent many a night fantasizing about paying Robby back for all he’d done. But… wasn’t he supposed to be better than that?

“I thought… Mom says I shouldn’t get caught up in a cycle of revenge.” He said, uncertainly. 

“And she is right.” Kreese replied. “There is no cycle once you put your enemy in the ground.”

Miguel looked at his enemy and saw Robby staring back at him blankly. He didn’t even look afraid. He looked like it was all just a big joke to him. Like Miguel was a joke to him. And Miguel felt his blood starting to boil at the thought. 

“But… Sensei Lawrence...” Miguel still hesitated. Robby was still Sensei’s son after all. 

“Johnny doesn’t care about this guy. No one does.” Kreese replied. “You know that already, don’t you? They’d have found him by now if they really cared to do so.”

_ That’s… true,  _ Miguel realized.  _ If Sensei Kreese found the guy, he must not have been that hard to find. And neither Sensei nor Mr. LaRusso was actually looking.  _

“You can end this cycle, right now.” Kreese told him. “No one has missed him in ages and no one’s gonna miss him in the future.”

“But Sam… and Sensei...”

“They only say that because they feel they are supposed to.” Kreese explained. “That won’t last. Soon, it’ll be like he never even existed.”

_My own words... my own thoughts..._ Miguel nodded slowly as he felt his resolve build up inside of him. This was his reward after all - to get rid of the guy who’d been the bane of his existence. To make sure that Robby Keene would never bother him again once and for all. To make sure that he’d have nothing left to be afraid of. 

“But I’ve already won.” He said, more to himself. “He… doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve no reason to be afraid of him.”

_ Look at him. He is pathetic and broken already. He wouldn’t even be able to put up much of a fight.  _

“Then what’s holding you back?” Kreese asked.

_ Exactly. What’s holding me back? I promised myself that I wouldn’t make the same mistake twice, right? I had him at my mercy before and I let him go - and paid the price for it. And If I do that again… _

“What… what do you want me to do with him?” He asked Sensei, uncertainly. 

“That’s entirely up to you.” Kreese replied. 

He reached inside his jacket and pulled something out, putting it on the table. It took Miguel a moment to realize what it was… a knife. And not like the ones that his mom used in the kitchen either. It was one of those big, sharp ones he’d seen on TV. A weapon made for killing. 

“Sensei… that’s - that’s insane.” Miguel stammered. 

“No… what’s insane is living your life in fear.” Kreese replied. “What’s insane is waking up in the middle of the night, shaking and afraid, because you didn’t have the guts to make the choice that you should have. Tell me you want to keep living like that.”

He didn’t. He wanted to get rid of the fear. He truly did. He was actually desperate for it. But… was this the only way?

“All this… it’s for you, kid.” Kreese said. “I’m doing this to help you. But I can’t help you if you don’t help yourself.”

“But if someone finds out...”

“Don’t worry about that.” Kreese reassured him. “Like I said - no one has looked for him for months and no one’s gonna go looking for him in the future. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, he might as well be dead already.”

Miguel nodded, slowly. Trembling, he picked up the knife and unsheathed it. The edge glinted even in the dim light and the pointed tip looked positively wicked. 

“I… No - not like this.” He said. “I need to prove that I’m stronger than him.”

“You were stronger than him the last time too.” Kreese told him. “Physically, at least. But mentally, he had the guts to go all in and you didn’t. That’s why you lost.”

Miguel blinked rapidly, but didn’t say anything. 

“Alright - have it your way.” Kreese shrugged. 

Miguel stood there, frozen in place, gripping the knife tightly in his hand as Sensei Kreese unlocked the chain from around Robby’s ankle. He wasn’t going to let his guard down again, atleast. 

_ Am I really thinking about doing this? Seriously? Am I really going to kill another person? _

_ He’s not a person - he’s a monster. He tried to kill me. And given half a chance, he’ll try again. This… this is like self-defense. Once I finish him, there won’t be a reason to be afraid of him anymore.  _

_ But… if someone finds out… _

_ No one will. Like Sensei said, the only thing holding me back is myself.  _

“Well?” Kreese asked, stepping back.

Miguel moved forward until he was standing beside the bed and he put the knife down on the mattress, within Robby’s reach. He stood over the smaller boy, staring down in challenge and daring him to reach for it. 

“No.” Robby shook his head. “I’m not gonna play your game anymore.”

“So you’d rather die like a coward?” Miguel scoffed. 

“Do what you have to.” Robby shrugged. 

_ He won’t even let me have this?  _ Miguel thought, hesitating.  _ Not even one last fight? He just has to be spiteful, doesn’t he? _

Sensei Kreese was standing there, with his arms folded across his chest… watching and judging. And Miguel remembered his lessons. Cowards will use their own weakness against you. They’ll take advantage of your good nature - like Robby had done before with everyone. Real strength required the ability to push past it and doing what needed to be done. 

Sensei Kreese was giving him a chance to do that. This was a do-over - an opportunity for Miguel to fix his mistake. And if he didn’t take it…

With a trembling breath, Miguel picked up the knife and pressed the tip against Robby’s stomach. 

“Last chance, Keene.” He warned. “I’ll gut you like a pig if you don’t fight back.”

Robby stared back, calmly. There wasn’t even a hint of fear in his eyes. 

“He’s not scared of you, Mr. Diaz.” Sensei Kreese said, quietly. “He thinks you don’t have the balls.”

His hand was shaking, Miguel realized. And Robby could see it. Despite having all the power here, he was still more afraid of the enemy than Robby was of him. 

“It’s okay.” Robby said, quietly. “I’m ready.”

_ He’s mocking me. He doesn’t think he has anything to be afraid of. Like Sensei said, he doesn’t think I’m strong enough… tough enough… _

With his face contorting in anger, Miguel pushed the blade in.


	10. Miguel II

_ “Self-defense?” Barry asked, incredulously. “Are you for real?” _

_ “That’s what the DA decided to go with.” _

_ “Level with me here, Jackson.” Barry told the police chief. “I saw the video. No way you could’ve let the kid off like that.” _

_ Chief Jackson drummed his fingers on the table, evaluating his response.  _

_ “Look - no one wanted a mess here.” He said. “Even the victim’s family didn’t want to press charges. And the kid had been punished enough already.” _

_ “Not by the law.” Barry corrected. “That’s how it’s supposed to work, right? It’s the debt to the society that needs to be paid.” _

_ “I don’t know what to tell you.” Jackson shrugged. “The DA didn’t want the mess dragged up again - not with the election coming up. And without a witness willing to testify...” _

_ Barry Bonds nodded slowly. “So you all just decided to sweep it under the rug? And he got away with it?” _

_ “Look at what he went through and tell me if you think he really got away with anything.” _

* * *

“ _ Dios mio! _ Miguel, what happened?”

His stomach clenched in fear when he heard his mother’s voice and Miguel pulled the blanket around him tighter. He almost wished he hadn’t called - that he’d just let events take their course. But there was no chance that he could’ve gotten away with it and it was better that she heard everything from him. 

Steeling himself, Miguel stood up and turned to face her. 

“Mom, it’s...” He froze, seeing Sensei Lawrence behind her, looking equally concerned. 

_ No… I can’t face him. I can’t tell him… _

Carmen gasped and rushed forward, pulling his hands apart. Ofcourse, she was going to freak out - Miguel was covered with blood from his neck to his waist, after all. Dimly, he felt a little embarrassed as strangers in the hospital corridor turned to see the spectacle. 

“Mom, it’s okay.” He said, numbly resisting her attempts to check him for injuries. “I'm not hurt.”

“What the hell’s going on Miguel?” Carmen asked, querulously. “Whose blood is this?”

“It’s… Sensei Kreese’s.” He gave Johnny a furtive look. “And Robby’s...”

“Robby?” Johnny asked, aghast.

Miguel swallowed and nodded. 

“That boy is back again?” Carmen almost screamed. “What did he try to do? If he tried to hurt you… I won’t let him get away with it this time.”

Miguel shook his head again.  _ Tell them. Tell them everything. C’mon, you coward - you already know you can’t hide it. _

“Miguel...” Johnny had gone deathly pale. “What do you mean it’s Robby’s blood? What were you doing with Kreese in the first place?”

“John took him out for a treat.” Carmen explained, still trying to pat him down. “Something special for winning the tournament.”

“You let him go alone with Kreese?” Johnny asked, incredulously. 

“John has been nothing but helpful.” Carmen defended angrily. “Your son obviously came after him again and - ”

“No, Mom!” Miguel cut in. “That’s not what happened.”

They both looked at him, waiting for him to continue and Miguel took a deep breath. 

“Sensei Kreese took me to this cabin in the woods… Said he had a reward for me there.” Miguel bit his lip and looked down. “And… he had Robby there.”

They were both dead silent for a moment.

“What do you mean, he had Robby there?” Johnny asked, quietly. 

“Like… a prisoner or something.” Miguel explained. “Sensei had him chained up and… it looked like he’d been there a while.”

Carmen blinked at him, speechless and Johnny seemed to have trouble wrapping his head around it as well. 

“A pris… what?” He shook his head. “For how long?”

“I-I… don’t know.” Miguel stuttered. “I didn’t know anything about this, Sensei. I swear.”

Johnny nodded numbly.

“Why would he…?” Carmen started. “Robby was your reward?”

“Sensei… he was giving me an opportunity to take revenge.” Miguel explained. “He wanted me to… kill him.”

Carmen gasped, horrified and took a step back. And Johnny’s eyes went as wide as saucers and even more blood drained from his face. 

“Miguel...”

“I couldn’t do it.” Miguel said, hastily. “I couldn’t kill him like that. In cold blood.”

_ Tell them the truth. Tell them what you did.  _

“I... So, Sensei Kreese stabbed him instead.” Miguel finished.

_ LIAR. COWARD.  _

_ And you blame Robby for running away? For not facing the consequences of his actions?  _

Carmen slumped down on the bench, too shocked to say anything and Sensei Lawrence kept staring at him, looking like you could knock him down with a feather. 

“I-I… freaked out. I didn’t know what to do.” Miguel continued. “I… tried to call 911, but Sensei Kreese wouldn’t let me. He said I was a failure and… and a c-coward and he… attacked me. He tried to… strangle me and I… I don’t know how, but the knife was in my hand and I just stabbed him. And I...” He looked at Johnny, pleading. “And I killed him. I killed Sensei Kreese.”

_ You are so full of shit, Diaz. You know that’s not how it went down. And so will they. As soon as… _

_ No, I don’t know that. I’m the only one who knows what happened there. Or atleast, I’ll be the only one soon enough. _

_ Is that what you think or what you hope for? _

“You were defending yourself.” Carmen said, numbly. “Miggy, it’s okay. No one will blame you for this.”

“But… Robby...” Johnny stammered. 

“The paramedics got there in time.” Miguel replied. “He’s in surgery right now and… Sensei they don’t know if he’ll make it. There was so much blood...”

* * *

_ So much blood. Too much blood.  _

_ Futilely, Miguel pressed his hands down around the knife, trying to staunch the flow.  _

_ Shit. Shit. Shit. What did I do? _

_ “What are you doing, Mr. Diaz?” Kreese asked, almost curiously.  _

_ Robby shuddered in pain and sobbed. The knife wasn’t all the way in, but it was deep enough to make him bleed out.  _

_ I can’t let him die. Not like this. This isn’t right. What the hell was I thinking? _

_ “Let go of him.” Kreese ordered. “You are getting DNA all over yourself.” _

_ “This is insane...” Miguel said, numbly. “You are insane. You can’t kill someone like this.” _

_ “You just did.” Kreese smiled. “Miguel, you already proved yourself. You showed me what kind of person you are.” _

_ What kind of…? Yes, that’s what Sam said, right? I have to decide what kind of person I want to be? Is this who I want to be then? A cold-blooded murderer?  _

_ “NO!” I need to save him. I need to… _

_ His hands were slippery with blood, but he managed to pull out his phone anyway. He’d barely dialed 9-1-1 before he felt it being snatched away from his hands.  _

_ “What the hell, Diaz?” Kreese snarled, angrily. “What do you think you are doing?” _

_ “We can’t let him die!” Miguel yelled. “We need to call for help.” _

_ “After everything he did?” Kreese scoffed. “You still want to show mercy?” _

_ “This isn’t about mercy, you psycho - we are talking about killing him.” Miguel screamed. _

_ Kreese’s face contorted in rage and Miguel knew he’d said the wrong thing.  _

_ “You are weak.” He growled. “And there is no room for weaklings in my dojo.” _

_ He scrambled back, but Kreese was on him faster than he would’ve thought possible. Thick hands closed around his neck, squeezing tight and in that moment, he forgot all his training. All he could do was pound at his Sensei uselessly as he struggled to breath.  _

_ “You are a disappointment - like the rest of those losers.” Kreese snarled as he squeezed tighter. “Just like Johnny. You don’t have what it takes. I made the mistake of not finishing the job last time. But this time - ” _

_ Kreese stopped talking. His eyes went wide and his grip around Miguel’s neck loosened. The boy fell to his knees, coughing and looked up to see the old man take a stumbling step back. That’s when he noticed the knife sticking out of his neck. Kreese turned around to look behind him and they both saw Robby staggering backwards, with his hand clutching his bleeding midsection.  _

_ With a surge of adrenaline, Miguel got to his feet. He grabbed the hilt of the knife and yanked it out forcefully. A spray of blood gushed from Kreese’s neck and he fell down, dead before he hit the floor. _

_ Shit, shit, shit, Miguel thought as he saw the boy fall back on the bed, still bleeding out. He picked up the bloody phone again and finished dialing.  _

_ “Don’t you die on me - you hear me?” He yelled as the number struggled to connect through low signal. “Don’t you fucking die on me!” _

* * *

Three days. That’s how long it took for Robby to wake up. And how long Miguel felt like his future hung in the balance. Three days while Sensei waited and Miguel insisted on coming back. 

_ To make sure he dies? Or to threaten him to tell the same story as you? _

_ No - it’s not a story. I couldn’t go through with it. I DID save him.  _

_ After you tried to kill him.  _

_ I took it back right away, didn’t I? I made a mistake. I don’t deserve to have my whole life destroyed for it.  _

_ And he does?  _

_ No… I never said that he did. _

_ You wanted him to pay for what he did to you, didn’t you? Well, he did. And then some. Now it’s your turn. _

_ I… can’t. It’s not fair… It’s not right… _

_ No - he made a mistake. You made a choice. You really think you are gonna get away with it? _

“Miguel...” Johnny told him once. “Thanks for saving him. I know it couldn’t have been easy forgiving him after what he did… but thanks for being the bigger man here.”

Miguel looked at the floor, ashamed and nodded. 

_ You want to be a hero that badly? You didn’t save him, you asshole, he saved you. And you can’t even let him have the credit for that? _

_ No - I said that to protect him. I thought that was the least I could do.  _

_ Then tell the truth. Tell them that you didn’t kill Kreese… he did.  _

_ I will. As soon as he wakes up and… and… _

_ And what? You get him to tell your version of the story? _

* * *

Robby was going to tell the truth, Miguel realized, his heart sinking. He was finally awake and somehow, Miguel was allowed to see him right away, with Sensei and his mom. And a uniformed police officer in tow. 

The news was not good. Robby was going to survive, sure, but what the doctors had told them had been worse. Cuts, bruises and burns all over his body - some healed, some half-healed and others fresh - he’d clearly been abused and tortured for months. He was severely malnourished and dehydrated - and the blood loss hadn’t helped. Clearly Kreese had had him for months - and nobody could say for how long.

He was awake - but it didn’t seem like he was all there. He stared at them blankly while the doctor explained his condition to him. He drank the water they gave him and he barely reacted when Sensei hugged him gingerly and held his hand. 

“I just need to ask him a few questions, okay?” The officer said, not unkindly. 

Johnny nodded. 

“So… uh Robby… this guy Kreese was keeping you imprisoned, right?” He asked. 

Robby nodded. 

“Can you tell me for how long?” 

“Months… I guess.” Robby replied. “I lost track of time ages ago.”

The officer nodded, jotting it down. “And… can you tell me how the whole thing worked?”

“He left me packed food and water and a bucket.” Robby replied. “He’d come by every couple of days to restock and… to “talk” to me.” Miguel could guess how those talks usually went. “He’d let me out to get cleaned up every now and then.”

“You didn’t… try to escape?”

“A couple of times.” Robby shrugged. “He liked that game. He’d cut me loose and give me a headstart and then he’d hunt me down. He didn’t like it if I made it too easy for him… or too hard.”

Miguel felt cold all over. Chilled to the bone. 

“Alright.” The officer knew better than to press him further on those details. “Can you tell me what happened the last time? When Kreese brought Miguel there?”

Robby threw him a furtive glance, which the officer didn’t miss. 

“I don’t… remember, exactly.” He said.

“I heard that Kreese wanted Miguel here to kill you - is that correct?” He asked. 

“Yeah...” Robby nodded, seemingly trying to remember. “But… he didn’t. He couldn’t do it. He saved me instead.”

“So, Kreese stabbed you?”

Robby nodded. 

_ He’s lying for me? He’s playing along? Why? _

“And then…?”

“He… attacked Miguel, I think.” Robby said, looking at him for confirmation. 

“Is that when Miguel stabbed him?”

Robby bit his lip and nodded. “It was self-defense.”

“Of course.” The officer nodded. “Thanks for answering my questions.”

“Are we done now?” Johnny asked, looking pale again. He always looked distressed like that whenever this story was brought up.

“Not quite.” The officer said, regretfully. “I’m… sorry that happened to you, son. And I hate to do this but I have to handcuff you to the bed.”

“What?” Johnny stood up, putting himself between the officer and his son. And Miguel stared at him horrified as well. 

“He’s a fugitive.” The officer explained. “We can’t let him run again.”

“He won’t.” Johnny said, firmly. “But you are not chaining him down again. Not after...”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lawrence. But that’s my job.”

“That’s bullshit!” Miguel shouted, taking a step between them again. “You can’t do that!”

“Honey… the officer is just doing his job.” Carmen intoned quietly. 

The officer looked between them, taking the measure of the room and decided not to press his luck. 

“Well… it doesn’t look like he’s in a condition to go anywhere.” He said. “I guess I can leave it be for the moment. We will be stationing a guard outside his room, however.”

He left the room and only then Miguel realized the awful truth. 

_ They still want to go after Robby. They still want to arrest him and put him in prison for what he did months ago. Why? Hasn’t he already been through enough? _

“We’re gonna fight this.” Johnny said, more to himself than to Robby. “They can’t put you away. I won’t let them.”

“So you’ll just let him run again?” Carmen asked, quietly.

“He made a mistake, alright?” Johnny defended. “He was scared and he made a mistake. But he knows better now. He won’t do it again.”

Robby scoffed lightly. 

“You won’t!” Johnny insisted. “Robby, promise me you won’t pull something like that again.”

“I didn’t pull that the first time, you asshole.” Robby said, coldly. “I didn’t run away.”

Johnny frowned, waiting for him to go on. 

“That day… the day of the fight… I came home.” Robby explained. “I wasn’t sure what to do, so I waited for you to come back all day. And when you didn’t, I went looking for you. Figured you might’ve gone to your dojo - so I went there. That’s where Kreese got me.”

Miguel felt wave after wave of cold chills flowing through his body. 

“Robby… that was almost 10 months ago.” Johnny said, horrified. “He… had you… all this time?”

Robby shrugged. 

“No...” Johnny shook his head. “The money… and your text...”

“You actually thought I was the kind of guy who’d steal from my own dad?” Robby asked, coldly. “Kreese had my phone and my keys. So he made it look like I’d run off.”

_ But you didn’t run…  _ Miguel realized, his heart pounding with a sick  _ thud-thud-thud. All these months we all thought you were a coward who ran, but instead, you were that monster’s prisoner. A guy like that and I… _

_ I trusted him. I believed in him. Everyone warned me about him and I didn’t believe them. God, how could I have been that stupid? _

Sensei was looking away, shaken to his core, with his hand on his mouth. Miguel could only wonder what was going through his head. They’d all thought the same thing and no one had even looked for him. They’d all left him at the mercy of that monster and… and Sensei was certainly going to blame himself for it.

“I’m sorry...” Johnny whispered, unable to look at his son. 

“Whatever.” Robby shrugged. “The good news is, I’m not afraid of going to jail anymore.”

“That’s not gonna happen.” Miguel spoke up, resolutely. “We’re not gonna let that happen.”

“Miguel, that’s not up to us.” Carmen told him quietly. 

“We’ll still make it happen.” Miguel insisted. 

_ She wants him to go to prison,  _ Miguel realized.  _ She’d never say it out loud, but she is still angry at Robby for what he did and despite everything, she still wants to see him punished more.  _

“Kreese didn’t stab, Robby - I did.” Miguel said before he could stop himself.

“Miguel - ” Carmen started, exasperated.

“No, Mom - that’s the truth. I tried to kill him.” Miguel repeated. “I regretted it immediately, but I still did it. And he still stabbed Kreese to save my life.”

“He wanted to save himself.” Carmen argued.

“No, he didn’t.” That much Miguel was certain of. “He didn’t even try to fight back or stop me when I stabbed him, but he did when Kreese turned on me.”

Carmen stared at him… and then turned to Robby for confirmation. But Robby was resolutely looking away. 

“You could’ve just kept your trap shut.” He said, tonelessly. 

That was confirmation enough. 

“Miguel… how could you…?”

“I did, okay? I let Kreese get into my head and gave into the anger. But I chose to do that.” He told her. “So if… if Robby goes to prison, then I’ll confess everything and I’ll end up there too. Is that what you want?”

Carmen looked at him, helplessly, uncertain of how to respond. 

“You… stabbed him?” Johnny asked, as if he didn’t fully understand those words. “ _ You  _ stabbed him?”

_ Shit. I didn’t think this through.  _

Miguel nodded, without looking at him. 

“You… saw what Kreese was doing to him. And then you still tried to kill him?” Johnny asked. “And then you took the credit for saving him when he saved you?”

Miguel swallowed.  _ This is why you should’ve told the truth in the first place. _

“Sensei, I’m so-”

“Get out!” Johnny growled. “Get out and don’t ever show your face around me again!”

“Johnny...” Carmen spoke up in his defense.

“John Kreese is a good man, huh? Wasn’t that what you said?” Sensei asked, turning on her angrily. “You trusted him? Still think you made the right choice?”

Carmen had no reply to give.

“Get out of here - both of you!” Johnny snarled. “And stay away from my son! I never want to see either of you again.”


	11. Johnny II

_ “I don’t… quite understand what you want from me here.” Barry told Johnny after he was finished giving him the details. _

_ “I told you already...” _

_ “Yes, I know.” Barry cut him off. “But what are you hoping to gain from this? From what you’ve told me, it seems like Robby made his choice and there is no taking it back.” _

_ Johnny was silent for a minute, trying to think of an answer.  _

_ “I guess… I’m trying to figure out if there was something I could’ve done differently.” He finally replied. “Maybe something that could’ve changed his mind.” _

_ He was trying to deal with his guilt. And he wanted to hear that there was no reason for him to feel guilty. _

_ “You were living with him for months.” Barry said, leaning forward. “Shouldn’t you already know the answer to that?” _

_ Johnny wet his lips.  _

_ “Robby was… depressed. Traumatized.” He said. “I know he was struggling, but… I did everything I could think of to make him feel better. Atleast, I thought I did. And I wasn’t the only one trying.” _

_ “Who else?” Barry narrowed his eyes. “You are talking about Miguel Diaz?” _

_ Johnny nodded.  _

_ That part of the story made no sense. Miguel was the victim here. And the hero. Robby had hurt him and Miguel had saved his life despite that. Why would Johnny be on bad terms with that boy? And why would Miguel want to make things right with Robby? _

_ Johnny claimed it was because Miguel had chosen to trust Kreese - but he hadn’t been alone in making that mistake. There was clearly something here that Lawrence was hiding.  _

_ “What about… Daniel LaRusso?” Barry asked. “He used to be close to Robby too, right?” _

_ Johnny shook his head. “LaRusso doesn’t matter anymore.” _

* * *

This was not his son, Johnny thought. This was no longer Robby. His son used to be so full of life. Angry? Yes. Bitter and resentful too - but all that came from wanting something. The silent and broken boy in front of him didn’t look like he wanted anything. 

“Someone’s here to see you.” Johnny said. 

Robby looked up and shrugged without saying anything. He didn’t talk much, nowadays. Almost as if he’d forgotten how to. And Johnny wasn’t sure exactly how much he was supposed to press. 

“Hey, Robby!” Daniel said, coming into the room.

And he froze in place, taking in the sight. 

Johnny had had the same reaction when he’d first seen him. The kid was all skin and bones… pale and gaunt with dark circles around the eyes. His hair was longer, almost reaching his shoulders. He had a scar on his face - two parallel lines running from his bottom lip down his chin. His arms were the only other part of his body visible and they were covered with angry red burn marks. But Johnny knew there were plenty of other scars on his body too. 

“Mr. LaRusso?” Robby looked almost curious. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you think? I came to check up on you.” LaRusso forced a smile on his face. “You d-don’t… look that bad. Johnny had me scared, but a couple of square meals inside of you and you’ll be back in no time.”

_ Liar,  _ Johnny thought. But LaRusso was trying to encourage the kid and that was a good thing. 

“S-Sam’s here to see you too.” Daniel added.

“Yeah?” Robby raised his eyebrows. “And you wanted to make sure that I was fit for her eyes first? Wouldn’t you rather protect her from all this?”

Daniel bit his lip. “You are the one who needed protecting, Robby.” He said. “Sam just… wasn’t sure if you’d want to see her.”

“She’s right - I don’t want to see her.” Robby replied, shrugging.

Johnny turned towards Daniel, pleading with him silently not to push it any further. It was just teenage drama. Robby would get over it given time.

Daniel nodded. 

“Robby… I’m sorry all this happened.” He said, quietly. “I always knew Kreese was a monster but… I never thought he’d be capable of something like this.”

“He wasn’t all bad.” Robby replied, looking away. 

For Johnny that had been the most disturbing thing of all - how Robby tried to defend Kreese. How he tried to play down or dismiss the things he did. 

Daniel looked both proud and sad at those words. “I know I told you to be forgiving, but I don’t think even Mr. Miyagi would’ve forgiven something like this.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Robby looked back at him. “Kreese was… honest. He didn’t pretend to care about me.”

Daniel was taken aback at those words. “Robby… I-I care about you.”

“You care when it’s convenient for you.” Robby replied. “And you ditch me the moment it isn’t.”

A wave of guilt washed over Daniel’s face and Johnny couldn’t help but feel a twinge of satisfaction at that. 

_ Like you are in any position to judge?  _ A voice told him.  _ You let your son down way more than LaRusso.  _

“I deserved that.” Daniel said, slowly nodding his head. “You have every right to be angry with me.”

“I’m not angry.” Robby replied. “I’m just… done.”

“Robby, c’mon.” Johnny interjected. “He’s trying here.”

“I don’t need him.” Robby said. “I didn’t ask him to come here and I don’t want to see him. I’m done with all that Miyagi-Do bullshit.”

Daniel’s eyes were fixed on the floor, unable to look at his face. Then, without another word, he turned around and left. 

_ No… this is a mistake. Robby needs people who care about him more than ever. Even if he’s trying to push them away.  _

“LaRusso.” Johnny called out, following him out of the room. “He doesn’t mean that. He’s just angry.”

“I know.” Daniel stopped and looked back. “And I get it. He gets to be angry right now.”

“Don’t give up on him.” Johnny pleaded. 

“I won’t.” Daniel promised. “I’ll be here… whenever he needs me. But… I can’t force him to talk to me.”

_ No… you can’t,  _ Johnny thought to himself.  _ And… I can’t either. _

* * *

Robby was not okay. 

Well, Johnny knew that already, but he didn’t truly realize exactly how not okay he was until the second week of living together. 

He didn’t talk much. He never spoke up unless spoken to directly and even then he mostly answered in hmmms and shrugs. It took a direct question that couldn’t be answered in a word or two to get him to string a whole sentence together. 

“You need to talk to me, kid.” Johnny begged him one day.

“I’m talking.” Robby shrugged. 

“I mean talk to me for real.” Johnny tried. “Tell me what you are thinking. If you want something or if there is something I can do.”

“I got nothing to say.” 

Johnny sighed. “Look… you want things to go back to normal, right? You gotta start by acting like they are.”

Robby gave him a long, hard look. 

“And how would you know how much I normally talked?” He asked.

Eating… that was another problem. 

Kreese hadn’t been big on giving him three squares a day… his idea of feeding Robby had been to keep bags of store-bought fast food within his reach and restock it every couple of days. Robby’s muscles had wasted away during his imprisonment and he was all skin and bones now. 

He was malnourished and after having gone hungry for months, Johnny had expected him to scarf down whatever was put in front of him. Well, not like he was any great cook… so for Robby’s sake, he’d started ordering take-out from the good places. Something new and healthy every day. 

But Robby picked at his food, pushing it around his plate with a fork until it was barely half-eaten and then declaring he was done. 

“You are not done.” Johnny said, one day. “Robby, you are not eating enough. You are a growing boy. If you want to get your body back to how it was, you need to eat a lot more.”

Robby didn’t reply and simply pushed his plate away.

“No… you are finishing that.” Johnny insisted as authoritatively as he could. “You are not leaving this table until you finish every last bite.”

_ Or what?  _ He expected Robby to say. But his son just shrugged and started eating. 

Johnny slumped back in his seat gratefully. He’d had no idea what he could’ve done had Robby decided to fight him on this. But maybe he had a direction now. If a little tough love was what it took to help his son then…

Robby had barely shoved the last spoonful into his mouth before he got up and ran to the bathroom. Concerned, Johnny followed him and by the time he made it to the door, Robby had already thrown up his stomach’s contents into the toilet bowl. 

Johnny stood at the door, frozen and speechless, as his son panted, trying to catch his breath. Then he retched again and threw up more of the undigested food. 

He looked up at Johnny through tears. 

“I told you I was done.” He said, accusingly. 

He was cutting himself off from the world too. 

People tried to visit… to see if he was doing okay. LaRusso tried a couple of times. His daughter came over too. And some of his friends from Miyagi-Do… that mouthy kid, Demetri and Chris and some others. 

Robby didn’t even bother telling them to go away. The moment there was an unexpected knock on the door, he’d simply go to his room and lock himself in until they were gone. 

“They are just trying to help.” Johnny told him. “They’re worried about you and you need people around.”

“I don’t.” Robby replied. “I survived months without seeing them. And I don’t need people gawking at me and having even more to gossip about.”

Johnny bit his lip. 

“Listen. Maybe...” He’d been avoiding the topic for a while now. “How about you go back to school? All that crap from last year… it’s over now and I’m sure they’ll let you enroll again. I know you’ll be a little behind but that’s okay - there is no time limit for this stuff.”

“No.” Robby said, flatly. 

“Dude, listen - ”

“No.” Robby repeated. “I’m not going back to school and you won’t make me. End of discussion.”

But he had to go back, didn’t he?

“That’s… not how it works.” Johnny tried. “I know you are still recovering from what happened and I get that you need time… and I’m not saying you need to get back right away. But you need to think about your future too, right?”

Robby looked up at him calmly. “I’ll get my GED. You can get me the books I need and I can study myself.”

“You can’t shut yourself from the world.” Johnny said, despairing. 

“Why not?” Robby shrugged. “I was shut away from the world for months and nobody cared.”

_ What am I missing here? What can I do to make this better? _

His son was hiding himself from the world. Almost literally. 

He’d left the house a couple of times - the first when Johnny had insisted on taking him with him to buy him new clothes and everything else he might need. Robby had replenished his wardrobe with a whole lot of long sleeved hoodies and jeans and he always wore them with the hood up regardless of the weather. 

And he wouldn’t let Johnny touch him… not even to change his bandages. 

“I’m just trying to help here.” Johnny begged him. “Why won’t you let me help you?”

“Because you can’t help me.” Robby replied. “All this BS you are trying - that’s for you, not me. You are trying to do something to make yourself feel better.”

The nights were probably the worst. Johnny checked in him every night… he stood outside the door, listening to his son inside, either sobbing or in the throes of a nightmare. 

But Robby would never even let him comfort him. The crying stopped the moment he stepped in and if Johnny woke him up from the bad dream, he’d stare at him terrified for a moment - as if he was afraid that Johnny was about to hurt him - and then turn around without a word. 

* * *

“I don’t know what to do.” Johnny confessed. “It’s like… he’s fading away and I’m powerless to stop it.”

Daniel was visiting again and Robby was already locked up in his room. 

“Have you thought about therapy?” Daniel suggested. “I know you probably don’t believe in it, but I don’t think just pushing everything and acting normal is gonna work here.”

Johnny nodded, considering. Therapy? He could try that. He was willing to try anything at this point. 

It lasted about one week before Robby declared he wasn’t going back. 

“He just wants me to talk about my feelings and take drugs.” Robby told his father. “And I don’t need that bullshit.”

“Just give it a chance.” Johnny argued. He’d read all about this stuff in the short time he had. “There is no shame in getting psychiatric help.”

“I’m not ashamed - it just isn’t gonna work for me.” Robby replied. “All those drugs make me feel numb and drowsy and stupid. And I don’t want to talk about my feelings because I don’t have any.”

“Robby - after what happened - ” Johnny started. 

“It happened, alright?” Robby cut him off. “Talking about it isn’t going to change it or make me feel any better about it.”

“There was something else I needed to ask you.” Daniel said, hesitatingly, the next time he came over. “Miguel came to me… asked if I’d train him.”

Johnny scoffed. “Yeah… now is the perfect time for you to steal all my students, right?”

“Johnny, c’mon...”

“I’m kidding, LaRusso.” Johnny shrugged. 

With Kreese dead, Cobra Kai was his for the taking again. And Johnny discovered that he didn’t care a bit. He’d taken an indefinite hiatus from the dojo and he had no intention of going back for the foreseeable future. 

Although, he knew he’d have to go back at some point. The money he’d saved up wasn’t going to last forever. Still, his priority right now was taking care of Robby and nothing else.

“Miguel… told me what really happened. What he did and… what Robby did.” Daniel explained. “He told me that he still gets angry every now and then. That he wishes he’d finished the job… and he doesn’t want to be that guy.”

Johnny didn’t reply and Daniel looked at him, choosing his next words carefully. 

“He really is a good kid.” Daniel said. “He just got led astray by a bad teacher. We’ve both been there, right?”

Johnny nodded tersely. 

“But he wants to be better than that.” Daniel continued. “That’s why he’s asking to train with me. He thinks that Miyagi-Do can help him deal with that anger. And I think I can help him too… but I don’t want us to start fighting all over again.”

Johnny thought about it. At one point, the idea would’ve probably made him boil with rage. But now…

“I want nothing to do with Miguel anymore.” Johnny replied, shrugging. “You wanna train him? Go for it.”

Daniel nodded. 

“And maybe… you can think about training Robby?” He suggested.

Johnny stared at him, frowning. 

“He still isn’t eating well, is he?” Daniel asked and Johnny nodded in agreement. “Maybe some exercise could help with that. If he gets hungry then he’ll have to eat, right?”

“Maybe...” Johnny considered the option. “But… joining Cobra Kai? I’m not sure if even I want that anymore.”

“It might be what he needs.” Daniel thought out loud. “He’s depressed and he felt powerless for months. Maybe… he needs to get angry. To feel strong again. To feel in control. That’s not something he’s gonna get at Miyagi-Do.”

It could work. Anger was not always a good thing, but in this case… if it could get Robby out of his hole…

Robby was predictably skeptical about the idea. 

“Train with your asshole students?” He scoffed. “Are you kidding me?”

“They are not bad kids.” Johnny argued. “And you don’t need to be afraid of them.”

Robby seemed to find that funny for some reason. 

“I’m not scared.” He said, laughing. “But do you honestly expect me to be friends with Tory after what she did? Or Hawk?”

“What?”

“They didn’t tell you?” Robby asked, mocking. “You think Miguel was the first student Kreese brought over?”

Johnny felt a chill go through him at those words. 

“Tory was first.” Robby continued. “Kreese strung me up from the ceiling and let her use me like a punching bag. She left me with this to remember her by.” Robby stroked the scar on his chin.

“She did what?” Johnny was still trying to wrap his head around it. 

“Kreese brought Hawk over a few weeks later.” He went on. “Had a little game set up. I was supposed to run and Hawk would have to catch me. I almost got away too… except Kreese had this bear-trap in place to catch me.”

Robby lifted the leg of his pants to show the scar just above his ankle - deep grooves on both sides. 

“I-I… didn’t know….” Johnny said, horrified and trembling. “Robby… we need to tell the cops. They knew what Kreese was doing and they didn’t say anything.”

“I don’t want to start this mess all over again.” Robby said, calmly. 

“Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“Why? So you could tell me to let it go?” Robby said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. “I already know you’re gonna pick your students over me… I don’t need my face shoved in it.”

“No… I won’t do that.” Johnny said immediately. Then he saw the skeptical look on Robby’s face and added. “... anymore. You come first, alright? From now on, you always come first.”

“Is that why you want me to train with them?” Robby squinted at him.

“They’re both gone.” Johnny told him. “Tory… she quit Cobra Kai a while back. And Hawk’s in juvie for beating up a couple of kids.”

“And if they were still around?”

“Then I’d have kicked them out.” Johnny said, firmly. “Robby… I promise. Anyone who hurt you isn’t going to be in Cobra Kai anymore.”

It looked like he was about to say something, but instead he just shrugged. 

“Whatever. I’m still not training with the rest of your students either.”

Johnny bit his lip. 

“Then let it be just you and me.” He suggested. “This isn’t about making you join Cobra-Kai or anything. But you gotta build your body back up. So you’ll train with me and it’ll just be the two of us. Okay?”

Robby gave him a calculating look and nodded.

* * *

Things  _ were  _ getting better. Not all the way and not right away… but it was a baby step in the right direction. 

Or so Johnny told himself. 

LaRusso was right about Robby getting some exercise. He was barely able to do anything in the beginning. He was weaker than Miguel had been when he started. And he didn’t have the same drive either. He did what he was told… or what he could, but nothing more than that. 

And Johnny’s usual tricks didn’t work on him. 

The drill-sergeant act just made him roll his eyes and the insults that lit the fire under his other students simply made him look hurt. Gentle encouragement wasn’t exactly Johnny’s style, but he tried his hand at that too - with equally poor results. 

_ It’s because he doesn’t trust you. Or respect you.  _

_ And why should he? I’ve let him down every single time he has needed me.  _

_ So you need to earn his trust. Do whatever it takes to show him that you’ll be on his side always.  _

His first test came the day he reopened Cobra Kai for business. After the scandal with Kreese and Hawk, not to mention the school fight, a lot of parents had decided to pull their kids from Cobra Kai. But others were still eager to start up again. Cobra Kai had won the All-Valley two years in running after all. 

They weren’t happy about Robby being back, however. 

Johnny wasn’t letting Robby out of his sight again - which meant Robby would be spending time studying in his office while Johnny held his classes, before training with Johnny separately. 

“Why does that asshole get special training?” Mikey asked when Johnny appraised his students of the arrangement. 

“You have something to say about that?” Johnny asked him, coldly. 

Mikey hesitated for a moment and then nodded. 

“When are you getting Miguel back, Sensei?” He said. “I heard he joined Miyagi-Do because you wouldn’t let him come back here.”

“Joining Miyagi-Do was his choice.” Johnny replied. “That has nothing to do with him coming back. And he’s not coming back. Got it?”

“How’s that fair? Why does Robby get special treatment?” Mikey argued back. “Sensei… I get that what Sensei Kreese did was messed up. But Robby started it when he almost killed Miguel. And now he got Sensei killed too? I know Miguel had to do it, but he wouldn’t have been in that situation if not for Robby. You expect us to just be okay with him after all that?”

“You are right. That’s too much to expect.” Johnny nodded slowly. “Get out!”

“Sensei?” Mikey was taken aback.

“I don’t expect anything from any of you.” Johnny said, calmly. “But if you have a problem with my son, you don’t belong here. So get out and don’t come back.”

“I-I...” Mikey looked around for support, panicking, but no one looked back at him. “I’m sorry… I’ll try to - ”

“No. No more tries.” Johnny was firm. “You’re done here. And anyone else who feels the same way can go with him.”

Two more students left that day, along with Mikey and Johnny didn’t miss them one bit. Because LaRusso’s idea was working. Robby was getting better. 

His stamina returned slowly. And so did his appetite. He started gaining weight again. Filling out. He never got the hang of the quintessential Cobra aggression. His style of fighting was cold and calculating and controlled - but his power and reflexes were on point and Johnny saw how good of a fighter he’d be once his body caught up to his mind. 

“You’ll be winning tournaments in no time.” Johnny told him encouragingly one day. 

“Who said I wanted to?” Robby replied, deadpan. 

* * *

Robby wasn’t okay. He was probably never going to be okay. And it took Johnny almost three months to realize that. 

He stood at his door in the middle of the night, listening to the boy cry. He didn’t stop this time - not even when Johnny came in and sat down on his bed. He just kept sobbing quietly while Johnny gathered the courage to try and comfort him. 

“Please go away.” Robby whispered when he felt Johnny’s hand on his shoulder. 

“No.” Johnny whispered back. “You need me here.”

_ And I’m done making the same mistake over and over again. I’m done letting you push me away.  _

“You are the last person I need.” Robby replied. 

_ He’s testing you. He’s always testing you. He doesn’t trust you and that’s why he’s trying to push you away. Don’t let him.  _

“Robby, I-I know I screwed up. Everytime.” Johnny said. “But I won’t let you down again. I promise - I’m just trying to help.”

Robby gave him a bitter laugh through the sobs. “It’s too late. You can’t help me anymore.”

_ No, it’s not too late. You are still here. You are still alive. I still have a chance to make things right.  _

“Will you just talk to me, please?” Johnny pleaded again. “I know you don’t think it’ll change anything, but...”

Robby turned his head to look at him, teary-eyed. 

“What do you want me to talk about?” Robby asked. “You want to hear about Kreese?”

_ No, I don’t. But you went through it… the least I can do is hear about it. _

Johnny nodded. 

“Really? You wanna hear about how he tortured me?” Robby asked, skeptically. “How he’d whip me with his belt when he was frustrated? How he liked to put out his cigars on me? Or his messed up games where he’d hunt me through the woods? Or would you rather hear about the time I tried to cut my leg off with a piece of glass just to get out of the manacle chaining me down?”

Johnny’s stomach churned and he squeezed his eyes shut. But he nodded anyway. 

“You know what was really fucked up though?” Robby went on. “After a while, I started looking forward to his visits. Started waiting for him to come back because… because as bad as the stuff he did was, being alone was even worse.”

“I’m sorry.” Johnny said, his voice breaking. “I’m sorry that happened to you… that I let it happen. But it’s over now. Kreese is dead and he’s never gonna touch you again.”

“Nothing’s over.” Robby said, quietly. “Kreese was… he was a monster, but atleast he was true to what he was. What he did to me wasn’t even half as bad as what you did.”

Johnny was taken aback, surprised.

_ What are you so shocked over? None of this would’ve happened if you hadn’t let Kreese back into your life.  _

“I should’ve never given that asshole a second chance.” Johnny said, regretfully. 

“You think that’s what I blame you for?” Robby asked. 

Johnny waited for him to go on.

“You know - whatever Kreese did to me, that didn’t really matter.” Robby told him. “It was just pain. Not like I hadn’t been beaten up before, right? And after what I did to Miguel, I figured I deserved it.”

“You didn’t.” Johnny said immediately. “You didn’t deserve that.”

Robby went on like he hadn’t heard him. “But I could live with that because I believed - I told myself - that it wouldn’t last. That one day my dad or my teacher would realise the truth and come save me.”

“The truth?”

Robby looked him straight in the eye. “That I’m not the kind of person who’d just run away.”

Johnny stared at him, blinking, his mouth hanging open. 

“You never even questioned it, did you?” Robby asked. “You thought I was the kind of person who’d run away? Who’d steal from my own dad?” Robby’s voice broke. “Who wouldn’t come back when his own mom dies?”

“Robby… I...”

“I loved mom. More than anything.” Robby said, seething. “She was the only one who was there for me my whole life. And you thought I’d just leave her behind? Just like that? You didn’t suspect for a moment that something else was going on - that I didn’t come back for her funeral because I couldn’t?”

Robby shrugged his hand off and pushed himself back, further away from him. And Johnny didn’t have the courage to reach out again. 

“I begged Kreese when I found out.” Robby went on. “I didn’t believe him but… I still begged him to let me go. I promised not to say anything - that I’d pretend that I actually had run away… and when he didn’t I thought that now, for sure...”

He shook his head. 

“He was right all along.” Robby finished quietly. “No one was looking for me because no one wanted me around.”

“That’s not true, Robby.”

“No? You thought I chose not to come back for mom, right? Did you think I was ever coming back?”

“I thought… I hoped...”

“But you didn’t come looking.” Robby said, accusingly. “If you actually wanted me back, you wouldn’t have cared whether I ran away or not - you’d have gone looking. And then, maybe… you might’ve figured it out that I didn’t run after all.”

Johnny swallowed, unable to formulate a reply. What was he supposed to say to that? He had screwed up here too, hadn’t he? He’d decided to wallow in his grief while he should’ve been looking for his son. 

“If… If I had...” Johnny hesitated. “If I’d looked for you, would things have been different?”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Robby said, regretfully. “If you actually cared about me, this wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

“I don’t… understand...”

“I came home that day… after the school fight.” Robby explained. “I waited for you. I wanted to apologize and… well, I did think about running but… but you weren’t there. You didn’t even call to check up on me. You were too focused on Miguel, right? And on your other students? Because that was more important.”

Johnny looked away, ashamed. He blinked, trying to will away the itch in his eyes, but he could feel the tears escaping from the corner anyway. 

“I waited for you for hours. And when you didn’t come back, I called you.” Robby went on. “But you didn’t even pick up. If you’d just checked in on me -  _ even once -  _ I wouldn’t have gone to the dojo looking for you and Kreese wouldn’t have taken me.”

“I - ” Johnny choked back a sob. “Robby, I’m sorry.”

“It’s too late for that.” Robby replied. “Realizing that was what broke me, dad. I held on to the hope that help was coming for as long as I could. I tried my best to rationalize it… to justify it to myself. But I couldn’t think of a single time you were there for me when I needed you. And that’s when I realized that I’m all alone.”

Johnny squeezed his eyes and wiped his tears. 

“You didn’t just make me feel abandoned… you made me feel…  _ rejected. _ ” Robby said. “That was something Kreese never could’ve done on his own.”

“I’ll fix this.” Johnny said, shaking. “I promise… I’ll make this better.”

“You think I’m ever gonna trust you again?” Robby asked. “All this crap you are trying to do? It’s temporary. You are only doing it because you feel guilty and… it’s not gonna last. One day you’ll be over it all and decide that you’ve done enough. And I’ll go back to being alone. Except… this time, I won’t wait around for that day to come.”

A chill went through Johnny at those words. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked.

“I don’t know yet.” Robby replied. “All I know is that living like this - with you - is not how I want to spend my life. Seeing your face every day just reminds me of what it feels like to be left behind and I’d rather just walk away if I could. I’m just sticking around because I have nowhere else to go.”

_ He hates me. No… worse, he no longer cares about me. Hate I could’ve dealt with, but this… _

“I  _ do  _ care about you.” Johnny said, numbly. “And I-I… I’ll prove it to you. I know I don’t deserve it, but please, if you just give this a chance...”

“I’m all out of chances to give.” Robby said with a finality in his voice. “You can keep trying whatever shit you want - it’s not gonna change anything.”

He turned his back on Johnny and pulled the covers over himself. 

“So could just go away, please?” 

Johnny sat there, unspeaking, for the next five minutes, trying to think of something, some way to convince Robby that…

Then he got up and left, closing the door behind him.


	12. Miguel III

_ “So here’s what I don’t understand...” Barry continued digging. “After Robby came back… after you saved his life… the whole dynamic changed. Right?” _

_ “I guess.” Miguel shrugged.  _

_ “You guess?” Barry scoffed. “Your Sensei stopped talking to you and told you not to come back to Cobra Kai. Sounds like he was punishing you for something… except, you didn’t do anything wrong. And don’t feed me that bullshit about trusting Kreese - everyone fell for that. No reason why Johnny would single you out here.” _

_ Miguel fidgeted nervously, trying to think of an answer.  _

_ “I-It wasn’t about punishment.” He said, finally. “Sensei was… re-evaluating the choices he made. I… was a distraction. I always ended up taking too much of his attention and he didn’t pay enough to Robby. But… he needed to make Robby his priority so I had to go.” _

_ “Really?” Bonds looked at the kid skeptically. There was a kernel of truth to the words. “So… basically you are saying that you had to go because Johnny Lawrence loved you more than he loved his son.” _

_ “No! That’s NOT what I said.” Miguel replied, horrified. “Sensei loves Robby more than anything else in the world.” _

_ Who was he trying to fool? His interrogator or himself? _

_ “Did Robby have anything to do with that decision?” Barry asked. “Did he ask Johnny to cut off his ties with you?” _

_ “Robby wouldn’t do that. He’s not petty like that.” Miguel shook his head.  _

_ He was defending the guy who took his girlfriend, his Sensei and almost killed him? This was clearly way past forgiveness.  _

_ “Can you tell me something about your relationship with Robby after he came back?”  _

_ “Sensei didn’t want me anywhere near him.” Miguel replied. “But… I tried to be friends with him.” _

_ “And did Robby want to be friends with you?” _

_ Miguel shook his head. “He wasn’t ready to trust anyone.” _

_ “See? This is what I have trouble wrapping my head around.” Barry told him. “You already saved his life. So why would you go that far for the guy?” _

_ “I didn’t do it for him. I did it for me.” Miguel told him. _

_ Bonds raised his eyebrows, encouraging him to go on.  _

_ “When Kreese told me to kill him, I was tempted to do it. To let him die.” Miguel sighed. “And even later… Sometimes I thought that I should’ve done it. That if I’d just killed him, no one would’ve known and we’d all be happier for it.” _

_ “That’s… understandable.” _

_ “But it’s not right.” Miguel insisted. “I shouldn’t… feel like that about anyone.” _

_ “So this was your way of burying the hatchet?” Barry asked.  _

_ “No. It was… more complicated than that.” Miguel explained. “I realized that I didn’t… see him as a person before. Never tried to see things his way. At first, he was the guy moving in on my girl. And then he was the monster who almost killed me. When I thought about it like that...” _

_ Miguel looked Barry in the eye.  _

_ “But when I saw him as a person...” He went on. “That day at the cabin… and later at the hospital… he wasn’t the guy who tried to kill me. He was just a hurt kid who needed help. You get where I’m coming from?” _

_ Barry shook his head and waited for him to explain.  _

_ “When I thought of him as a monster, I was afraid of him.” Miguel clarified. “And being afraid made me angry and that made me hate him. But when I thought of him as a person… Well, Kreese was wrong about what I needed to do in order to get over my fear. It wasn’t about me getting stronger or getting revenge… there is always going to be someone stronger than you out there. What I really needed to do was to… understand him.” _

_ “So that’s why you tried to be friends with him? To get to know him?” _

_ “Not… exactly.” Miguel shook his head again. “I… asked Sam to tell me about him. To tell me why she cared about him so much. And I asked Mr. LaRusso too. And they told me about him. About the stuff he liked. How hard-working he was. How he’d do anything to make people he cared about happy.” _

_ “I see...” _

_ “I’d have liked to know that guy.” Miguel explained. “I figured I could be friends with someone like that. And… I wanted to be. So...” _

_ “So it had nothing to do with getting back into Johnny’s good graces?”  _

_ Miguel shook his head again. “I wasn’t trying to manipulate anybody. I really was just trying to get to know him.” _

_ “And did you?” _

_ “I think so.” Miguel replied. “I know he wasn’t the same guy any more. He was… broken. And he wasn’t getting any better.” _

_ “Did he want to?” _

_ “I think he did.” Miguel replied. “He never told me but I think… I think he wanted to understand why this happened. Everyone just kept telling him that Kreese was just a crazy psycho, but it seemed like he thought there was more to it. He seemed to… care about him.” _

_ “So… something like Stockholm Syndrome?”  _

_ “I guess.” Miguel shrugged. “I know he was angry, but he wasn’t angry at anyone. I know everyone told him that he should hate Kreese - but it didn’t look like he could. I know he was depressed and he wanted to get better but he didn’t trust anyone. Most of all, I think he was afraid.” _

_ “Of getting kidnapped again?” _

_ “No… of being rejected.” Miguel explained. “After everything, he had a hard time believing that people actually cared for him. He was sure that sooner or later they’d all leave him. So...” _

_ Bonds nodded. That tracked with everything else he’d learned about the kid. _

_ “So… he decided to leave them instead.”  _

_ Miguel nodded.  _

_ Barry stroked his chin, thinking about his next question carefully.  _

_ “You know, apart from his dad, you seem to be the only person he had any contact with after his return.” He said. “Johnny has already told me a lot, but I need to know more. Think you can tell me about him?” _

_ “Uh… sure.” Miguel said, uncertainly.  _

_ “Okay - so let’s start with how the two of you reconnected...” _

* * *

Miguel stood rooted on the spot in the parking lot with his heart pounding. He should walk away. Right now. Robby obviously didn’t want anything to do with him and if Sensei - Johnny - found him there…

He’d seen Robby around before, of course. And he could see the guy was getting better. Physically, atleast. Mentally, well… according to Sam and Mr. LaRusso and the others, he still obstinately refused to see any of them. 

_ So what makes you think he’d want to talk to you? _

Taking a deep breath, Miguel walked forward and approached the boy sitting in the parking lot. 

He’d seen Robby smoking from a distance and as he got closer, he recognized the smell that his grandmother often tried to pretend was incense. 

“Hey.” Miguel said, nervously, as he stood beside him. 

Robby looked up and then looked away, without saying a word.

“H-how you been?” Miguel asked. 

“Peachy.” Robby replied, sarcastically. “What do you want?”

What did he want? What was he hoping to accomplish here? It wasn’t like they were going to be friends or anything and whatever rivalry they had was dead and buried. Neither of them wanted to start up that shit again. 

“I - uh - never mind.” Miguel turned to go.

“Wait...” Robby called out, uncertainly. And Miguel turned around, waiting for him to continue. 

“Why…?” Robby started, uncertainly. “Why did you tell my dad that you tried to kill me? I wasn’t going to say anything.”

That was a question Miguel could answer. 

“They were talking about you going to prison.” He said. “I couldn’t… let that happen.”

“Why not? Don’t you hate me?”

Miguel looked away, ashamed. “I-I used to, I guess… But you’d been through a lot already and - ”

“And you decided to take pity on me?”

“No, it wasn’t like that.” Miguel sighed. “What happened that day… Sam always said that it wasn’t just your fault. It wouldn’t have been fair for only you to pay the price for it. And… you already paid more than enough.”

Robby considered the answer and then shrugged, accepting it. 

“Can I… ask you something?” Miguel asked and waited for Robby to shrug in agreement. “Why did you lie? Why didn’t you tell people the truth about what i did?”

“Figured I owed you for almost killing you.” Robby replied. 

“A-and… why did you save my life?” Miguel continued. “That day you were… you were ready to die. You weren’t scared and you didn’t even fight back to save yourself. So why save me?”

“Same answer, I guess.” Robby shrugged. “Truth is, I don’t really know. It was like my body moved on it’s own.”

_ Its like they said. Because you really are a good guy,  _ Miguel thought to himself, nodding.  _ Even when you were dying, you couldn’t watch someone else get hurt in front of you. _

“You want some?” Robby asked, raising his hand and offering him the blunt.

Miguel shook his head and Robby shrugged again, taking another drag. 

“Sensei’s gonna kill me if he sees me talking to you.” Miguel said, unsure of where to go from here. 

“Well, he’s not around right now.” Robby told him. “Sid died and he has to take care of some legal crap.”

“Sid?” Miguel frowned. 

“His stepdad.” Robby explained. “They didn’t get along, but the old guy didn’t have anyone else. So… I guess he’ll be gone for a while.”

“So… I can hang out here with you?” Miguel asked. 

“If you want to.” Robby replied. 

“Do you… want me to?” 

“I don’t care.”

That was probably the only invitation he was going to get. Suppressing a smile, Miguel sat down beside him and they spent the next few minutes in silence. 

“They all miss you at Miyagi-Do.” Miguel ventured. “I mean… there is no Miyagi-Do, technically, but Sam and Mr. LaRusso and others… they all miss you. They’d really like it if you came back. O-or even talked to them.”

Robby scoffed. “Yeah - I heard you joined Miyagi-Do. You just have to have everything, don’t you?”

“Huh?” 

“First my dad, then Sam.” Robby explained. “The championship - twice. And now Mr. LaRusso - guess you won our little fight.”

Miguel felt cold all over. All this time he’d resented Robby for taking things from him - but it was the other way around, wasn’t it?

“It’s not like that.” Miguel said, immediately. “I didn’t… join Miyagi-Do to get back at you. And Robby… Mr. LaRusso really does care about you. A lot. He talks about you all the time.”

“Yeah? Did he tell you that when he had you up on that tree?” Robby scoffed. 

The tree? Yeah, he’d heard about that too. 

“No - he never took me there.” Miguel replied. “That’s something special… just for you.”

Robby looked at him skeptically. 

“You gotta believe me, dude.” Miguel pleaded. “I’m not trying to replace you or anything. I’m not trying to take anything from you. It’s not a competition.”

“That we can agree on.” Robby scoffed. “I never really stood a chance.”

“C’mon, man...”

“I tried to blame you. But it wasn’t your fault.” Robby shrugged. “It’s not that you got them to care more about you… more like they never cared about me.”

“They did. They… do.” Miguel insisted. “Dude, everyone cares about you. They are all worried about you. If you just give them a chance...”

Miguel trailed off when he saw Robby staring at him coldly. 

“You wouldn’t understand.” Robby said, quietly.

“Understand what?”

“What it feels like to be left behind.” Robby said. “You always had people care about you, right? Always worried about where you were and what you were doing? You don’t know what it feels like to know that everyone just moved on with their lives without you. That you didn’t matter enough to fight for.”

“They are fighting now.” Miguel said, quietly. “I mean… Sensei stopped talking to me when he found out. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

“Not anymore.” Robby shrugged. “You think it’s gonna last. He’s just doing what he thinks he is supposed to and once he’s over it, you two will go back to being besties in no time.”

Miguel bit his lip, uncertainly. That was the same thing he’d told himself over and over again - that Johnny would get over his anger. That he’d forgive him one day. That he was prioritizing Robby now because Robby needed him and one day, when he didn’t need him as much…

“It was the same with Sam, right?” Robby said. “She broke up with you because you messed up, but she never stopped loving you. And now you are back together.”

Miguel frowned at him. “How did you know that? We haven’t told anyone.”

“Call it an educated guess.” Robby said, smirking. “She has been coming over a lot more, hasn’t she?”

And here they thought they were being clever. Sam had wanted to keep it a secret for Robby’s sake - she didn’t want to hurt him more than they already had. And for once, Miguel had agreed. 

“Do you… still love her?” He asked, quietly. 

“Doesn’t really matter. She doesn’t love me.” Robby replied. “You don’t need to worry. I’ll get over it.”

Miguel swallowed, guiltity. 

“Do you hate me?” He asked. “For… taking her from you?”

Robby looked at him for a moment and then turned away, shaking his head. 

“You didn’t take her from me.” He said. “Sam makes her own decisions. And she chose you.”

That was good, atleast. Miguel didn’t want to hurt Robby, but he didn’t want to lose Sam either. He didn’t know what he’d have done if Robby had said he wanted Sam back.

“She still cares about you a lot.” Miguel told him. “She regrets how things went down and - ”

“Stop it.” Robby cut him off.

“Dude, listen - ”

“No - you listen.” Robby said. “I told you already that I’m done with people pretending to care just to make themselves feel less guilty. The only reason I’m talking to you is because you never cared about me and you never pretended to. But if you are just gonna keep talking about them then you can fuck right off too.”

Miguel bit his lip, considering. 

“So… we can talk as long as I don’t bring the others up?” He asked. 

Robby shrugged noncommittally. 

“Okay...” Miguel nodded. “I mean… if Sensei doesn’t kill me first, right?”

“Whatever.” Robby shrugged again. 

But what else was there to talk about. 

“You are looking better.” Miguel commented. “Like you’ll be back in shape in no time.”

Robby smiled a little at the compliment and took another drag. 

“Are you coming back to school anytime soon?” Miguel ventured again. “Maybe I could help you catch up with your studies?”

“No. I’m not going back.” Robby said, flatly. 

“Oh…?” Miguel prompted, encouraging him to go on, but Robby refused to say anymore.

This was getting awkward now. They’d had a heart-to-heart about a lot of important things, but trying to make small-talk was downright painful. 

And then he remembered something else that was important. 

“Do you want to talk about Kreese?” Miguel asked. 

Robby turned to him, frowning. “Do you?”

He didn’t, but… they had to, right? Kreese was the elephant in the room that everyone avoided. 

“I feel like I have to apologize for that.” Miguel said, quietly. “I feel so stupid for ever trusting him. Everyone told me that he was a monster… Sensei, Mr. LaRusso, Sam… but I didn’t believe them. I didn’t… want to believe them. He was always so nice and supportive to us that… but that was all an act, wasn’t it? I never should’ve fallen for his act.”

“I don’t know about that.” Robby shrugged. “I mean, if you hadn’t gained his trust, he’d have never brought you to the cabin and who knows how many years he’d have kept me there, torturing me.”

_ Are you really trying to find a silver lining in this mess?  
_

“The crap he put you through...” Miguel said, shaking his head. “You didn’t deserve that. No one does. Tell me you believe that atleast.”

“It wasn’t so bad.” Robby said casually. 

“How can you even say that?”

“Look, it was no picnic, okay?” Robby said. “But I survived. I know that Kreese was - ”

“A monster?” Miguel supplied. “A psycho? The worst scum of the earth?”

“Messed up.” Robby finished. 

Miguel stared at him, aghast. “You are not seriously defending him, are you?”

“I’m not trying to justify what he did.” Robby explained. “But… if I think of him as a monster, then I’ll never stop being afraid of him. I know he did some fucked up things, but I feel like if I try to understand him instead...”

Miguel blinked, surprised.  _ It’s the same reasoning. I… thought the same way about you.  _

_ But Kreese isn’t you. You made a mistake. You lost your head for one moment. Kreese made a choice. Careful, cold, calculated choice. Every day he kept you locked up, he was choosing to prolong your suffering. That wasn’t just a mistake - that was evil.  _

_ Can’t you see that? _

“What?” Robby asked, looking at him. 

“Nothing...” Miguel shook his head. “I just… I can’t believe you are being so… I don’t know… forgiving?”

“Never said I was trying to forgive him.” Robby told him. “I’m just trying to understand him. Figure out a way past this shit.”

Miguel nodded thoughtfully. 

“He was a soldier, right?” He suggested. “Maybe war got him all messed up?”

“That’s what I don’t get. Mr. Miyagi was a soldier too. Mr. LaRusso told you about him, right?” Robby asked and Miguel nodded in agreement. “He saw and did the same fucked up shit as Kreese… so how does one guy end up all peace-loving and awesome while the other guy ends up… well, Kreese.”

“Because Kreese didn’t care about anyone but himself.”

“He cared.” Robby said. “I could tell by the way he talked. He cared about my dad. And he cared about his students… he cared about you.”

“Yeah?” Miguel scoffed. “Is that why he tried to make me a murderer? Why he tried to kill me too?”

“He felt betrayed.” Robby replied. 

“No - you are not gonna defend what he did.” Miguel said, shaking his head indignantly. 

“I’m not trying to.” Robby sighed. “Look - Kreese was fucked up, okay? There was something really wrong with him. But he cared in his own fucked up way. However messed up it was, he actually thought he was doing what was best for his students.”

Miguel looked at him incredulously. “That makes no sense at all.”

“I know.” Robby nodded. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out - how to make sense of it all.”

_ Let it go. He’s trying to be the bigger man here - the better person. Don’t take that from him… even if it’s for someone who doesn’t deserve it.  _

Miguel chose not to argue any further and instead sat there in silence while Robby took the last few drags. 

“Good talk...” Robby said, flicking away the used end. “We should do this again some time.”

He stood up, dusting the back of his jeans and Miguel looked up at him hopefully. 

“You really mean it?” He asked. 

Robby looked down, considering the question. 

“Yeah.” He replied. “This was the most honest conversation I’ve had in a while. So...”

Miguel nodded, smiling and sat there as Robby turned to go.

“Are you…?” Miguel hesitated to ask. “Are you gonna be okay? I mean - not right away, but… someday?”

Robby stopped, but didn’t turn around. 

_ Did I just ruin this?  _ Miguel wondered.  _ He did say he didn’t want people pretending to care and even though I’m not really pretending… _

“I mean… Sensei wants you… needs you to be okay.” Miguel added hastily.

“No.” Robby replied, without looking back. “I’ll never be okay. It’s just something I’ll have to learn to live with.” He sighed, shrugging. “Or not...”

He walked away and Miguel stared at his back with growing trepidation. What the hell was that supposed to mean?


End file.
